A city council member in one Dallas suburb quickly backtracked a remark he made of New York freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Richardson councilman Scott Dunn called Ocasio-Cortez a "bimbo" through his personal Twitter account.
The councilman then wrote his apology on his personal Facebook account, saying "The words I used were offensive," Dunn wrote Friday night. "I am responsible for my own words and actions. I apologize to anyone who finds what I said offensive."
The tweet by Dunn was captured by The Dallas Morning News and later deleted by Dunn, but the screenshot and words stirred up a base of folks, even if they may or may not have been voters in the Texas town.
In a reply to an Ocasio-Cortez tweet, Dunn wrote:
"The embarrassment is to have bimbos like you with nothing between your ear."
Richardson is a city of nearly 100,000 people, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
Though Dunn went incommunicado after the social media posts, the Richardson government covered tracks with a statement from Mayor Paul Voelker.
"I was extremely disappointed and embarrassed to see the online comment by Councilman Scott Dunn in response to a tweet by U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez earlier this week," Voelker said in a statement. "While I certainly respect Councilman Dunn's, or any citizen's, right to freely express his or her opinion on any issue of public concern, I also believe that Richardson's values are best upheld when we engage in civic discourse that is civil in tone, respectful of others and designed to produce constructive outcomes for the betterment of our community.
"Even when we disagree about important political and social issues, we shouldn't resort to name-calling."
Voelker went on to say he condemned Dunn's remarks, though they were made in a private setting and not a council capacity or quorum.
"I have expressed my concerns to Councilman Dunn, and I am hopeful that he will take this matter deeply to heart and that he will express sincere remorse and a clear understanding of his words' hurtful impact," Voelker wrote.
According to Dunn's biography on the city's website, he has served on the city council since 2011, with his reelection in 2015.
Ocasio-Cortez won the U.S. Representatives seat out of the Bronx and has quickly risen to become one of the newest faces of the Democratic Party.
Just three years ago, President Donald Trump in an interview during his campaign said this about then-Fox News host Megyn Kelly.
"I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct," he wrote in January 2016. "Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!"
Uncommon Knowledge
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