A Republican Party staffer, who previously drew flak for his controversial social media posts, pushed a debate watch party on Wednesday by accusing U.S. Vice President and now Democratic Presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, of using sex to advance her career.
The post, Keith Best's latest online attack, was removed shortly after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel inquired about it. Best resigned from his position in the state Capitol last year, a day after making headlines for using a lawmaker's Twitter account to criticise quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Best's Accusations Against Harris Stir Controversy
"It's a racist, demeaning Facebook post, and it's meant to imply basically she has no credentials, no education and no worthiness of being up on that stage," state Sen. LaTonya Johnson of Milwaukee said of the post about Harris.
Harris—currently, Democrats' best hope to stop Donald Trump's re-election—holds degrees from Howard University and the University of California Hastings College of Law. She served as a prosecutor before being elected California's attorney general and then a US senator. She is the first Black woman and the first person of Indian descent to appear on a major party ticket.
Best currently serves as the grassroots outreach director for the Waukesha County Republican Party. On Wednesday, he promoted a watch party debate between Vice President candidates Mike Pence and Kamala Harris on his personal Facebook page.
"If there are any questions on how to sleep your way to the top, Kamala will have an advantage," Best wrote.
The Facebook post included a meme that said: "She will be an inspiration to young girls by showing that if you sleep with the right powerfully connected men, then you too can play second fiddle to a man with dementia. It's basically a Cinderella story."
The post referred to Harris' 1990s relationship with Willie Brown, who served as speaker of the California Assembly and later as mayor of San Francisco. At that time, Harris was an assistant district attorney. Best initially defended the post but removed it shortly after speaking with the Journal Sentinel.
"It's common knowledge," Best said. "This is nothing new." Terry Dittrich, chairman of the county party, stated that he was unaware of the post on Best's Facebook page until the Journal Sentinel contacted him.
"He did this all unilaterally as an individual," Dittrich said. "Even though he's an employee of our county party, we had nothing to do with it — not making excuses — and I told him to take it down."
The post led Andrew Hitt, chairman of the state Republican Party, to contact Dittrich regarding the issue. It is worth noting that the state and county parties operate as separate entities. "I would certainly never make a comment like that, and I'm glad the post is being taken down," Hitt said in a statement.
Johnson, the Democratic state senator, argued that Republicans needed to do more than ensure the post was removed, given Best's previous social media history. "Take it down? The fool should be packing his stuff and getting out," Johnson said.
Best made his post less than two months after conservative TV commentator Tomi Lahren faced backlash from Fox News employees for making a similar claim about Harris' relationship with Brown. Lahren issued an apology in response to the criticism.
He posted it amid complaints in Waukesha County about campaign signs referring to Democrat Joe Biden - who recently ended his reelection bid - and Harris as "Joe and the Hoe." Both Dittrich and Best claimed that the county party had no involvement with those signs.
History Of Sparking Online Outrage
Best has a history of social media disputes. In July 2018, he used the Twitter account of then-Rep. Tom Weatherston of Caledonia will reply to a tweet from Democratic Sen. Lena Taylor of Milwaukee, who criticised voter suppression issues oversight.
"Those claiming that minorities are not smart enough to follow voting rules with a Photo ID are the true racists," Weatherston wrote in an X post. However, Weatherston later denounced the X post as racist and claimed that Best had told him it was posted "by mistake."
Less than a year later, in February 2019, lawmakers debated on the Assembly floor whether to honour quarterback Colin Kaepernick as part of Black History Month. During the debate, a tweet from Rep. Barbara Dittrich's account surfaced.
"Colin Kaepernick wore socks depicting police as pigs. Flags are at half-staff for a murdered policeman. Are you serious????" the post read. The tweet misspelt Kaepernick's name and referred to the shooting of Milwaukee Police Officer Matthew Rittner. It was deleted shortly after being posted.
Dittrich, an Oconomowoc Republican, disputed the tweet, stating that she neither posted it nor authorised it. Barbara Dittrich and Terry Dittrich are not related. She claimed that Best, her aide at that time, accessed her Twitter account. Best retired from his $52,000-a-year position the day after the incident.
In 2016, while serving as a spokesman for the Waukesha County Republican Party, Best was associated with controversial tweets from the party's account. One tweet criticised then-U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan for disinviting Donald Trump from a Wisconsin event following the release of the "Access Hollywood" video.
Another tweet mocked Miss Universe Alicia Machado for allegedly having a double chin. At the time, Best declined to confirm if he managed the party's Twitter account, claiming unidentified women ran it to avoid retaliation.
The controversies surrounding Best highlight ongoing tensions within political circles and underscore the challenges of managing public communications in the digital age.
