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In today’s world of hyper-partisan political bickering, we’re not sure where the line of good taste lies anymore. But we’re pretty sure making fun of a cancer patient for having cancer decidedly crosses that blurry line.
Republican Pinellas County Committeeman Dan Tucker is in hot water for making such a jibe on Facebook. And he didn’t even make that remark about a Democrat. He made it about a longtime Republican politician who dared to endorse a Democrat.
Pinellas County Commissioner John Morroni has been battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma since 2008, and the cancer returned in 2012. He’s served on the county commission since 2000, and before that was a Republican in the state house.
Local politics are a partisan affair in Pinellas County, and Morroni recently crossed party lines to endorse Democrat Darden Rice for a St. Petersburg City Council.
In steps Tucker. He’s served on the state Republican Committee since only last year and identifies with the Ron Paul libertarian wing of the party.
“Doesn’t he have cancer of the brain?” Tucker glibly wrote on his Facebook page after hearing news of the cross-party endorsement.
Oy.
State Republican leaders are not pleased.
Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry told the Buzz that Tucker’s comments are “reprehensible” and that “he’s become a distraction to the ability of the local party to do its job.”
However, according to WTSP, Curry has no power to remove Tucker from his post.
“If folks want to see him go, there’s a process whereby they can appeal that to a grievance committee of the Republican Party of Florida,” he said.
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