Denis Langlois Doesn’t Regret Calling Democrats ‘Retarded’ On Facebook
Republican mayor of Fort Ann in New York, Denis Langlois, took to Facebook back in October – in a post that has since been deleted – to slam anyone voting Democrat during the midterm elections.
“If anyone that I know vote [sic] for a Democrat on Tuesday you should sign yourself into the Mental Health unit at your local Hospital because you are retarded and need help, Vote Republican and ‘Keep America Great’!” the upstate New York mayor penned in his since deleted Facebook post. Before Denis was able to delete his Facebook post, someone had taken a screenshot and sent it off to a few different media outlets, WNYT reports.
Speaking to Post-Star, a newspaper in Glens Falls, N.Y., Langlois was a little unsure of whether he had actually made a post on Facebook calling Democrats “retarded.” “I might have,” he explained to the newspaper. “I post things all the time. I really don’t remember what I do half the time.”
According to Denis, it was important for media outlets – and residents of New York – to realize that while he is a mayor, he is also a person. He didn’t believe he should be quoted for things he said while speaking as a person instead of a mayor.
“I’m not doing it as an official; I’m doing it as a person. You can’t quote me as the mayor, you can only quote me as a person. As a mayor I wouldn’t say that, but as a person who believes in Republican values … Most people don’t even know I’m the mayor. Nobody cares anymore. That’s the problem with America today. Everybody just goes on with their life, and if it doesn’t affect them, they don’t care. It’s a terrible thing.”
During his interview with the newspaper, Langlois made it clear that he wasn’t denying he said it – just that he didn’t remember. Moreover, he also wanted it to be known that he didn’t regret what he wrote on Facebook regardless of whether it was deemed “politically correct.”
“If you write something and it gets me out of the mayor, I don’t care. I live for myself and what I believe in. I have no regrets on what I say. I never have regrets on what I say. I believe what I believe. Whether it’s politically correct or not, it’s what I believe, and it doesn’t matter. I talk from my heart and my soul, and that’s all there is to it,” Denis continued to explain to the newspaper.
New York mayor stands by calling Democratic voters "retarded" https://t.co/6avSLPN14a pic.twitter.com/EgZi6lSy5d
— The Hill (@thehill) November 8, 2018
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for social media to light up with people having nothing nice to say about the mayor’s use of the word “retarded.”
Some took to Twitter to call Denis a “bigot” and demand he be removed from office. Others took the time to post a local phone number encouraging people to call and complain to get him removed from office.
