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ICYMI: Leading GOP Gov. Candidate Actually Likens Washington State’s COVID Policies to George Floyd’s Murder

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Eyman: Inslee “has his knee on the neck” of residents in the state who “he deems non-essential”

GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Eyman continues to prove he is unfit to be Washington’s governor. Over the weekend in a Facebook live video, Eyman compared Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 restrictions to George Floyd’s murder, saying “I can’t help but look at that same situation and not visualizing Jay Inslee with his knee on the back of the necks of 7 million people in the state of Washington.”
Eyman doubled down on his ridiculous statement in another 20 minute Facebook video – “I’m going to keep saying it.” He even likened the suffering caused by police brutality to coronavirus restrictions. And when asked by local outlets to apologize, Eyman stood behind his outrageous statement.
Eyman’s conflation of the inability to get a haircut with police brutality and murder demonstrates his lack of empathy for Black Washingtonians and his inability to lead the state through a crisis. He should stick to stealing office chairs.
Read more about Tim Eyman’s offensive statement below:
The Daily Beast: GOP Gov Candidate Actually Likens His State’s COVID Lockdown to George Floyd’s Murder
The Republican candidate for governor in Washington, Tim Eyman, repeatedly invoked the image of George Floyd’s death while attempting to argue that the state should lift its coronavirus-related public health restrictions.
Speaking in a Facebook live video posted over the weekend, Eyman said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) “has his knee on the neck” of residents in the state who “he deems non-essential.” Eyman also said the remarks in an appearance in the city of Pasco on Tuesday.
On Thursday, he did it again, several times, posting a 20-minute video embedded in a lengthy fundraising email.
“On Facebook live this weekend and also in Pasco on Tuesday, I said that. I’m saying it again today. I’m going to keep saying it. Because it’s true.”
[…]
Eyman was criticized locally for using the imagery of Floyd’s death for the purposes of pushing an end to public health restrictions related to the COVID pandemic. But when asked if he would apologize, Eyman did not walk back his comments, but rather said: “Nothing disgusts me more than when government officials abuse their power and cost people their lives. Jay Inslee has inflicted devastation on millions of people he deemed non-essential. I hear from them every day.”
Eyman also attempted to compare the pain felt over Inslee’s policy agenda with police brutality towards Floyd. “People are dying. People are suffering. People are crying out for help and Inslee calls them heartless. George Floyd was killed and were there not a camera to record it, then his passing would gone unnoticed. I refuse to let Jay Inslee get away with inflicting this much pain and suffering upon so many people without the same justified outrage that we all feel for George Floyd.”
Asked by The Daily Beast if Eyman stands by his initial remarks and would like to comment further, a spokesperson for his campaign pointed to Eyman’s fundraising email pitch against Inslee, before adding an additional comment.
[…]
Eyman is one of several candidates running in the Republican primary to be held on Aug. 4. He announced his bid to unseat Inslee on May 14. Seattle’s King5 News noted that he has previously been sued by Washington’s attorney general over campaign finance violations, and according to the outlet, he has been accused of “stealing an office chair from a Thurston County store, before settling that charge with a fine.”