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SALT LAKE CITY — Republican congressional candidate Kim Coleman deleted what some saw as a bigoted Facebook post Tuesday about a photo of Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
“I imagine I would be friendly with all of my colleagues both sides of the aisle in Washington, as I am in our state House,” wrote Coleman, who represents West Jordan in the Utah House.
“But this picture is a reminder that a strong Republican district electing a Democrat who promised to be not-so-much like the rest of his team, is sort of like the story of the man who believed the snake who promised not to bite him.”
“We can fix this in November and send me to Washington,” Coleman concluded.
The photo of the smiling McAdams and Omar appears to be a selfie taken in a legislative committee room.
Coleman’s post touched off a stream of comments on her Facebook page both castigating and defending her.
“That was bigotry behind that post. Typical right wing play,” wrote one commenter.
“Carry on Kim, you are doing the right thing,” wrote another.
Coleman later took down the post, writing, “Just for the record I deleted a post out of abundance of caution that it not be misinterpreted.”
“Of course we want to be friendly with all of our colleagues, which I am. It was intended to be a comment on a voting record, not on an individual, because voting record is fair game. On several key votes Ben has been right there with the squad: ✔️HR1 ✔️Equality Act ✔️ Impeachment. This is about votes, not individuals,” she wrote.
The “squad” refers to four progressive Democratic congresswomen of color, including Omar and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who support proposals like the Green New Deal.
Coleman’s original post appears to be a jab at a McAdams’ tweet taking issue Monday with comments Ocasio-Cortez made about the Democratic Party and presidential front-runner Joe Biden.
“In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a New York Magazine article.
McAdams tweeted in response, “Comments like this are why people can’t stand Washington. I‘m glad we’re in the US, not any other country. We‘re all on the same team, with different perspectives, whether you’re a moderate, conservative or anywhere else on the political scale.”
Coleman is among several Republicans looking to challenge McAdams in the 4th Congressional District.
