FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Sports

Republican County Secretary Resigns After Calling Kneeling NFL Players "Baboons"

In since-deleted Facebook posts, Beaver County Republican Committee secretary Carla Maloney also wrote, “You don’t like it here go to Africa see how you like it there."
Photo by Bob Donnan—USA TODAY Sports

In Facebook posts from last year, a Pennsylvania-based GOP official described NFL players who protested during the anthem as "baboons." Not once, mind you, but three times.

Carla Maloney is (was) Republican Committee of Beaver County (RCBC) Secretary and took to her personal account, under the name of Carla Belich Fueller, to vent some racist vitriol directed specifically at black NFL players. While the posts have since been deleted, the Beaver County Times confirmed the text, and Maloney has admitted she posted them.

Advertisement

Last year, on the day President Trump turned player protests during the national anthem into a national fiasco, the Pittsburgh Steelers team remained in the locker room during the anthem to avoid any further controversy. However, not every single Steelers player was in the locker room, Army Ranger veteran and offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva got mixed up and wound up on the field all by himself. It was a stark visual, and Villanueva later went on to admit that he sort of messed up the team's whole plan, but it didn't matter, it became a major national story and sparked lots of outrage. That outrage apparently included Carla Maloney. In one post, she wrote:

“Tired of these over paid ignorant blacks telling me what I should believe in. I will tell you what I believe in and that is our Flag the National Anthem and America period end of story,” Maloney wrote. “You don’t like it here go to Africa see how you like it there. We are all Americans not African American not Hispanic American. WE ARE ALL AMERICAN.”

After claiming that she predicted a civil war "soon [sic] than later," she wrote:

“Steelers are now just as bad as the rest of the over paid baboons. You respect your flag, country and our national anthem. How many men and women have lost limbs or died to protect this country and you baboons want respect,” she wrote. “If you want respect you need to earn it and so far you haven’t. Stop watching, or going to a game and paying for over priced food, water and tickets. Let’s see how the baboons get paid when white people stop paying their salaries.”

Today, the day after the Times reported about Maloney's Facebook posts, Maloney released a public resignation letter, apologizing for what she described as "distasteful, inappropriate, and insensitive social media posts." She went on to assert that "I come from a diverse family that represents modern America," later clarifying that the posts were made public due to "an ongoing family dispute." Her job was not an elected position, but rather an appointment.

The chairman of the RCBC Chip Kohser talked to the Times, saying that he knew of the posts and warned Maloney about how it might represent the GOP. He later said, “those comments do not reflect the opinions of the Republican Party as a whole." As a whole.