A Nebraska state lawmaker has resigned amid outrage over his social media activity. Republican Sen. Bill Kintner, who retweeted a controversial comment about the Women’s March protests over the weekend, announced his resignation at a press conference on Wednesday.
The original tweet, from conservative radio host Larry Elder, featured an image of three female protestors holding signs referencing Donald Trump infamous remarks about grabbing women “by the pussy.” Two of the signs read, “Not this pussy!” Elder mocked the protesters, writing: “Ladies, I think you’re safe.”
Kintner, who has held office since 2012, did not apologize for retweeting Elder’s tweet, but eventually removed it from his account. “By retweeting a message, I was not implying support for putting women in fear of their personal safety,” his office said in a statement. “I took down the retweet as soon as I became aware that it was being misconstrued.”
The state senator announced his resignation about an hour before Nebraska legislators were to convene a meeting to debate whether to remove him from office. Kintner conceded his colleague likely had enough votes to expel him, but expressed concern that his resignation would “be hailed as a victory to the progressive and aggressive liberal movement.”
He added: “To paraphrase Richard Nixon, you won’t have Bill Kintner to kick around anymore.”
It was not the first time Kintner had faced pressure to resign. He was fined $1,000 last year after he admitted using a state-owned computer to engage in mutual masturbation with a woman over Skype. Kintner reported the incident to authorities after the woman threatened to go public unless he paid her off. But Kintner ultimately weathered the scandal and remained in office.
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