Gov. Greg Abbott is calling for the resignation of Bexar County Republican Party Chairperson Cynthia Brehm.
Brehm has come under fire for a Facebook post that claims the killing of George Floyd was a staged event to damage President Donald Trump’s support among black voters. The sentiment echoes a conspiracy theory making its way across far-right websites.
The Bexar County Republican Party chair has a new conspiracy theory. #satx #txelex pic.twitter.com/6T7GxT5DYG
— Gilbert Garcia (@gilgamesh470) June 3, 2020
Brehm’s post has since been deleted.
Texas Democrats first put out the call for Brehm’s resignation in a statement Wednesday evening. The Republican Party of Texas Chairman James Dickey and several other GOP members have thrown their support behind the move.
“Cynthia Brehm’s position regarding the tragic injustice of the death of George Floyd has no place in the Republican Party of Texas,” Dickey said in a statement today. “We can not abide by her caustic remarks. They are out of alignment with our core beliefs and our platform.”
Dickey added he personally reached out to Brehm and called on her to resign her post immediately.
Travis County Republican Party Chair, Matt Mackowiak and U.S. Representative Chip Roy of Austin both took to Twitter to call for her departure.
Abbott called Brehm’s comments “disgusting” and said she should immediately resign from her post.
This is the second time in recent weeks that Brehm has made controversial statements. In May, she claimed the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax propagated by the Democratic party.
“All of this has been promulgated by the Democrats to undo all the good that President Trump has done for our country, and they are worried,” she said, referring to the COVID-19 crisis and the governmental response.
“So take off your masks, exercise your constitutional rights, stand up, speak up and vote Republican,” Brehm added.
Brehm is headed into a runoff election for her GOP Chair position next month against John Austin. She told Spectrum News that she does not plan to resign. She declined to speak with TPR reporters.
Lauren Terrazas can be reached at Lauren@TPR.org and on Twitter at @terrazas_lauren.
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