Name: Bexar County GOP chair refuses to resign for posting racist George Floyd conspiracy theory despite calls from her own party
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Bexar County GOP chair refuses to resign for posting racist George Floyd conspiracy theory despite calls from her own party

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Editor's note: this story has been updated to reflect that Cynthia Brehm says she will not resign.Gov. and other top Texas Republicans are calling for the resignation of the GOP chair in one of the state's biggest counties after she floated a conspiracy theory about the death of George Floyd. The chairwoman, Bexar County's Cynthia Brehm, is refusing to step down.In a since-deleted Facebook post from this week, Brehm asked for her friends' thoughts on a theory that Floyd's death was a "staged event," apparently to gin up opposition to President Donald Trump. There is no evidence to support that claim; Floyd, a black Minnesota man, died last week after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes."These comments are disgusting and have no place in the Republican Party or in public discourse," Abbott spokesman John Wittman said in a statement Thursday morning. "Cynthia Brehm should immediately resign her position as Chair of the Bexar County Republican Party."Brehm did not respond to request for comment for this story but that she would not resign. She told the TV station that she did not agree with the post and rebuffed the cast of GOP leaders calling for her to step down, saying they "do a lot of things, too, that I don’t agree with but I don’t ask for their resignation."In the post on Facebook, Brehm described the situation in which Floyd died as the "possibility" that "this was a filmed public execution" for the "purpose of creating racial tensions." She also cited the "rising approval rating of President Trump in the black community" as a reason for why "an event like this was unfortunately predictable."Brehm is not the only big-city county GOP chair to spread the conspiracy theory. After she received wide condemnation Thursday, it surfaced that the chairman in Nueces County — home to Corpus Christi — had on Facebook last week. The post from the chairman, Jim Kaelin, called it an "interesting perspective."It was not immediately clear what the consequences would be for Kaelin, but the statement from Abbott's office set off a swift succession of condemnation aimed at Brehm. Shortly after Wittman's statement, U.S. Sen. 's campaign said he believes Brehm should resign as well. Similar resignation calls came Thursday afternoon from Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Dickey said in a statement had "personally reached out" to Brehm to ask her to step down.Brehm has been a lightning rod since she took over the party in Bexar County, home to San Antonio, in 2018. She for declaring the new coronavirus a hoax pushed by Democrats.At least one San Antonio Republican, former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, acknowledged that Brehm has a "long history of making racist and inflammatory statements, peddling conspiracy theories, and bringing embarrassment upon Bexar County Republicans." He said in a statement it was "well past time for her to resign."Brehm's Facebook post about Floyd began receiving wide attention Wednesday after Gilbert Garcia, columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, posted a screenshot of it on Twitter. He he had taken the screenshot from her Facebook page Wednesday morning, and it was apparently deleted that afternoon.Garcia's tweet prompted U.S. Rep. , R-Austin, whose district includes Bexar County, to call for Brehm to step down immediately. The other Republican who represents Bexar County in the U.S. House, Rep. of Helotes, Brehm should resign after Abbott's call Thursday.State Sen. , R-New Braunfels, who represents Bexar County as well, Thursday afternoon. another GOP state senator whose district includes Bexar County, Sen. Pete Flores of Pleasanton.The Bexar County Republican Party chair has a new conspiracy theory. — Gilbert Garcia (@gilgamesh470)The Texas Democratic Party said Wednesday evening that Abbott and other Texas Republicans should ask for Brehm's resignation."Cynthia Brehm’s comments are flat out wrong and dangerous," party spokesman Abhi Rahman said in a statement. "Enough is enough."Democrats also called on Republicans to denounce Brehm’s comments last month about the coronavirus crisis, which she said "has been promulgated by the Democrats to undo all of the good that President Trump has done for our country." The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had specifically called on Roy and two other San Antonio-area GOP candidates to condemn those remarks.Roy's chief of staff, Joseph Wade Miller, he was unaware of Brehm's coronavirus comments and the Democratic calls to denounce them. "Just another reason why she should resign though," he tweeted."Coronavirus clearly isn't a hoax," Miller told The Texas Tribune on Thursday. "It's a very serious public health problem."Perhaps it goes without saying — but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. At a time when newsroom resources and revenue across the country are declining, The Texas Tribune remains committed to sustaining our : creating a more engaged and informed Texas with every story we cover, every event we convene and every newsletter we send. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. Do you value our journalism? Show us with your support.

Editor's note: this story has been updated to reflect that Cynthia Brehm says she will not resign.Gov. and other top Texas Republicans are calling for the resignation of the GOP chair in one of the state's biggest counties after she floated a conspiracy theory about the death of George Floyd. The chairwoman, Bexar County's Cynthia Brehm, is refusing to step down.In a since-deleted Facebook post from this week, Brehm asked for her friends' thoughts on a theory that Floyd's death was a "staged event," apparently to gin up opposition to President Donald Trump. There is no evidence to support...

Bexar County GOP chair refuses to resign for posting racist George Floyd conspiracy theory despite calls from her own party

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