Sheridan County GOP’s racist post is about hatred, not free speech

A racist message posted on the Sheridan County Republican Party’s Facebook page last week is a prime example of why we must speak out against racism.

The post featured a photo of former President Donald Trump during a publicity stunt at a closed McDonald’s in Philadelphia, where he handed out fries to campaign staff posing as customers.

Below the image was an ominous racial slur: “Trump is even more of a n****r candidate now.” The offensive word was partially crossed out but unmistakable.

Under the text were bullet points citing alleged similarities between Trump and Black Americans: “gold plated everything with his name on it,” “multiple baby mamas,” “mugshot,” “34 felonies,” “got shot” and “worked at a McDonald’s for a day and quit.”

The Sheridan GOP captioned the post: “While not really a thing in Wyoming, you must admit this is rather funny.”

Of course, racism in many forms occurs here, and there is absolutely nothing funny about it.

The county party’s reaction when asked by WyoFile for comment is as disturbing as the foul content, prompting me to ask: Is the party taking stock of the harm it’s done to the Black community and making amends, or are members just sorry they were caught and publicly shamed?

WyoFile reporter Maggie Mullen broke the story last Tuesday, after contacting Sheridan County GOP Chairman Bryan Miller about the post. It originally appeared on a far-right online forum that hosts violent, antisemitic and racist content — a forum, one might deduce, that’s being frequented by the county party’s communications team.

Miller called the post inappropriate and said it does not represent Sheridan County. The chairman said he didn’t know about it before he was contacted by WyoFile, and ordered it removed about 45 minutes after it was posted.

Miller said the county party’s “communications team” was responsible. He declined to name the member who thought the post was funny.

“We do not share the names of our folks who do our posting and all that, because people here and across the state, they end up doxing them and doing all that crap,” Miller told WyoFile. “And I will not do that to my people, even when they screw up.”

However, Miller had a much different explanation for the Cowboy State Daily. In its article, Miller said the post was “not in good taste” and tried to downplay it. 

Miller said no one except the media expressed concern and he thinks the incident was blown out of proportion, according to the Cowboy State Daily. He said it was a testament to the shaky state of free speech in America, which is being “washed out.”

“There are far too many people who don’t have a sense of humor,” he told the news outlet. “Political satire has been out there for eons.”

Which is it, Chairman Miller? Was the post inappropriate? Or was it free speech that fell flat because people lack a sense of humor? And is pointing out that speech, appropriate or not, and labeling it as racist (clearly appropriate) actually blowing it out of proportion? 

Would the Sheridan County GOP keep posting vile material if it hadn’t been called to the public’s attention?

A former legislator, Republican Cyrus Western of Big Horn, was at the center of a similar political controversy in 2020. He reacted to Albany County’s appointment of Aaron Appelhans as the first Black sheriff in Wyoming by tweeting a clip from “Blazing Saddles.” The movie’s Black sheriff asked his friend, “Hey, where the white women at?”

Western later said what he did was “dumb and uncalled for,” and apologized for “breaking my own rules and standards.” He and Appelhans had a lengthy conversation about race. The sheriff told the Casper Star-Tribune he accepted the apology, and he and Western might end up crossing paths and even working together going forward.

“I basically told [Western] I have expectations for him and I’m looking forward to [him] meeting those expectations and being better,” Appelhans said.

It’s a positive example of someone who mistakenly thought he was funny, learning a valuable lesson. I hold out hope that the Republican responsible for the post about Trump understands the harm that was done and won’t repeat it. 

Meanwhile, a week before the general election is a good time to seriously examine — in a state where 70% of voters have twice given Trump his largest margin of victory in the nation — what role the former president has played in making some Wyoming Republicans believe racist messages are acceptable or in any way “funny.”

Racist propaganda spread by the GOP didn’t begin with Trump when he took over the Republican Party in 2016. But beginning with his campaign announcement, when he descended on a golden escalator to attack Mexicans as rapists and drug dealers, he’s offered a steady stream of racist diatribes that have escalated in 2024.

Science Digest conducted a 2021 study that found even brief exposure to Trump’s prejudiced rhetoric led many of his supporters to express greater prejudice toward minorities. A follow-up showed Trump’s words had “an emboldening effect for prejudiced individuals, leading them to express greater acceptance of others’ prejudiced behavior, as well as personally be more willing to disparage [minorities].”

Former Ambassador P. Michael McKinley penned a Just Security op-ed that noted in another era, Trump’s statements about immigrants poisoning the national bloodstream, his plans to oversee mass deportation of undocumented migrants, and racist smears aimed at political rivals would have disqualified him from becoming the presidential nominee of a major political party.

“Not now,” McKinley wrote. “Crowds at Trump rallies cheer his messaging — and there is little to no pushback from establishment Republicans, even those who supposedly oppose the former president.”

It’s imperative for Wyoming’s traditional conservatives speak out against disgraceful conduct.

Our Legislature followed the National Republican Party’s marching orders and defunded the University of Wyoming’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Across the country, the GOP has falsely used the issue to portray white Americans as the true victims of racism.

“There is no indication that attempts to use race as a divider in our national politics will stop anytime soon, raising the stakes of the choice facing Americans,” McKinley concluded. “The consequences for minorities in a second Trump administration could be devastating.” 

Wyoming is certain to vote heavily for Trump. But it will be interesting to see if enthusiasm for Trump has waned. Racism behind the Sheridan County GOP’s post serves as a warning that many members of the party have been unduly influenced by the ravings of its national leader, who continues to blame almost all of the nation’s ills on racial and ethnic minorities. 

It’s the antithesis of what the Equality State is supposed to stand for.