North Carolina Congresswoman Renee Ellmers, on the eve of her humiliating GOP primary defeat Tuesday after a redistricting, went down in style when she called a former supporter fat.
“You’re eating a little bit too much pork barbecue. Whoo!” Ellmers said on camera, just moments after reportedly commenting on how the former chair of the county Republican Party had “gained some weight.”
Redistricting in North Carolina pitted Ellmers, who has held her congressional seat since 2011, against her Republican colleague Rep. George Holding. The race was tight, with both candidates spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. Rep. Holding is expected to win the House seat in November.
Maggie Sandrock, the subject of Ellmers’ comments, had earlier decided to support Holding, despite helping the Ellmers campaign in previous years, the local CBS affiliate reported.
“Typical Renee,” Sandrock said of the congresswoman’s diss. “She has become a mean girl on steroids in my view.”
— Jillian Kay Melchior writes for Heat Street and is a fellow for the Steamboat Institute.