Borrowing a page from the Donald Trump potty-mouth playbook comes Ted Busiek of Littleton, Massachusetts, a Republic running for state senate in the fifth congressional district against the Democratic incumbent. And the Bay State’s legislators, notably from the GOP, are distancing themselves from the outspoken challenger.
The incumbent, Democrat Jamie Eldridge, has a strong record of supporting progressive causes and a professional approach that reflects respect for both the office he holds and the people he serves—two basic and very important qualities for public service that Trump, err, Busiek simply does not appear to show.
Busiek brings on comparisons of himself with the reality-show candidate as he tweets, for example, on July 2: “DONALD TRUMP. Putting self-righteous faggots in their place since 1993. How I love this fellow.”
Back-peddling a bit Busiek told Fox 25 News, “all the guys I met in the military, and most—any man between the ages of 25 and 35 probably uses that word [faggot] in a non-hateful sense.”
“‘Faggot,’ as he uses it, is merely the parlance of ‘uneducated proles’—precisely the people he hopes to represent, Busiek wrote on CommentMagazine.net, a blog that lists him as executive editor,” according to a July 7 Boston Globe article.
But even if this were simply just about lowering the level of public discourse, Busiek, again very much like Trump, digs himself deeper, the Globe goes on to report: “While he says he has nothing against LGBT folk, Busiek says he opposes gay marriage and is ‘absolutely opposed’ to same-sex couples adopting children.”
What’s more, in early July, the Globe notes, “[Busiek] called transgender people ‘perverts’ after Gov. Charlie Baker, a fellow Republican, said he would sign the House version of a non-discrimination bill.”
If there’s any good news in this story it’s that state senators, notably Republicans, according to the Globe report, are distancing themselves from Busiek:
“Obviously, Mr. Busiek’s language is completely unacceptable and does not reflect the values of the Republican Party,” chairman Kirsten Hughes said. State party officials added that they do not intend to spend any time or money in Busiek’s district, and the decision to drop out will be his to make. …
Stan Rosenberg, the first openly gay Senate president in Massachusetts, said that Busiek would “not be a welcome addition to the state Legislature.”
