Black Lives Matter Rhode Island PAC is demanding Democrat strategist Kate Coyne-McCoy resign after tweeting “hope” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham would die from Covid-19. BLM has rarely sided with Republicans in the past but said that Coyne-McCoy’s “disregard for human life” was enough to convince the organization to make a statement.
Coyne-McCoy tweeted “It’s wrong to hope he dies from COVID, right? Asking for a friend” after Graham announced he has tested positive despite being fully vaccinated. Graham has advocated in favor of the vaccines and was among the first lawmakers to receive the shot in December.
.@blmripac statement on @katecoynemccoy pic.twitter.com/hUHGyHOnnc
— Ian Donnis (@IanDon) August 3, 2021
According to The Daily Wire:
Coyne-McCoy, who is a “trained mental health professional”and whom The Providence Journal termed “technically a state party consultant” but is “considered the de facto party executive director,” apologized for the tweet, writing, “I made a mistake. I used poor judgement which I obviously regret.”
BLM released a statement calling for the Democrat’s immediate resignation.
“In a time where many human lives have been lost to COVID-19 all across Rhode Island, this comment is extremely distasteful and insensitive. Regardless of political affiliation the disregard for human life is unacceptable and should not be tolerated anywhere within any political party,” the group wrote.
“How can we trust someone with such blatant disregard for human life with the will of RI voters? Anyone affiliated with the Democratic Party should be held to a higher standard, as McCoy was hired to ‘modernize the party and position Democrats to win from the top to the bottom of the ballots,” the group added.
“Anything short of an immediate resignation,” they concluded, “would signal that these types of comments are acceptable within the RI Democractic (sic) Party.”
