GOP candidate Claire Chase called Donald Trump an 'a**hole unworthy of office' in posts from 2016
Claire Chase is a GOP candidate for the US House of Representatives in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District, and even though she is quite celebratory of sitting president Donald Trump and speaks with high praise for his administration, things were extremely different in 2015-2016. As revealed by Breitbart News, Chase had called the president an “a**hole unworthy of the office” in a Facebook post on August 2015. And her apparent distaste for the current president wasn't limited to that one particular post.
Unearthed by Breitbart News exclusively, that post and several others by Chase show her once deep hatred for the current president, who ran for office and won in November 2016. “For all my friends who like Donald Trump, I’m working on a fuller rant than he’s an a**hole unworthy of the office and the power of the President of THE United States,” she wrote on August 30, 2015, at a time when Trump was beginning to head to the front of the GOP pack in the presidential primaries, reports the outlet.
“Marco Rubio is the guy. Carly Fiorina is the woman. This is the ticket to beating Hillary Clinton," Chase's post concluded.
Again on September 6, 2015, Chase wrote of her distaste, in reference to a Politico article that said former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was aiming to be Energy Secretary in a then-potential future Trump administration. “This is reason enough not to vote for Trump, among the other 836,297 reasons not to vote for him,” Chase wrote about Trump. This was followed by another strong hate-filled post on September 8, 2015, where Chase criticized Trump saying he feels like he has served in the military even though he hadn't.
"Ugh. I *REALLY* dislike Donald Trump. I also went to military boarding school. Can I march in a military formation. Sure. Do I know what rank someone is by what’s on their uniform? Yes. Can I recite the military alphabet? Yep. Did I go overseas and fight terrorists and watch friends get injured or die? Nope. Did I make huge sacrifices to defend this country from her enemies? No. Have I put my life on the line for almost less than minimum wage? I haven’t. Why? Because I’m not in the goshdamn military. That’s why. This is beyond offensive," Chase's post read.
When Breitbart News requested comment on these former hateful messages, Chase’s consultant Craig Murphy said that she has changed her mind about Trump. “Claire did not support him in the primary, but she voted for President Trump in the general, celebrated his election, supports him now and thinks he has done a great job as President,” Murphy told the outlet in an emailed statement.
But Chase's posts from 2016 contradict Murphy's statement; from pledging her support to Gary Johnson in the general election even if Trump won the nomination to explicitly stating she did not support Trump following the 2016 general election, Chase was still not entirely won over by the president. “This made me throw up in my mouth a little bit,” Chase wrote in January 2016 in response to an article about Palin endorsing Trump. She added: “If Trump is the nominee, I’m voting Gary Johnson.” After Trump defeated Hillary Clinton and rose to the presidency, Chase had posted how she still didn't support him - going to the extent of giving people advice on which countries they could move to, to escape Trump's administration.
"I didn’t support Trump but I was never, never with her (Clinton)," read Chase's post from November 2016. She added: "That being said, buh-bye Hollywood! Take your uneducated anti-fracking campaigns with you. And everyone else that threatened leaving if Trump won, I recently read an article that Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Columbia were all great places to live for 4-8 years. If you’re wondering why I read this, it’s because I thought I’d be in your shoes this morning. For my real friends who supported Hillary, I still love you as friends even though we never saw eye to eye in this election. I was brought up to have an open mind and hear both sides of the story, and would gladly continue for at least the next 4 years. Full disclosure, I *despise* Hillary because of Benghazi so I won’t be open to comments about her. 8 years ago, you were all tired and wanting big change. As a result, Obama became President and we as conservatives have all survived, perhaps a little worse for wear but we survived all the same. The same thing occurred last night just on our side of the aisle. I promise you will survive, even if you’re not happy about it. #ifeelyourpain #lookingatyouLeoDicaprio #packyourbags."
But Murphy's statement to the outlet is all about how he is “sure she voted for him” and mentions that Chase “even went to the Trump hotel lobby in DC with others to celebrate November 9 (Day after the election). She was ecstatic about his election and even more ecstatic about his performance since.” He also provided a post from June 2016, where Chase defended Trump supporters, even though she claims she wasn't one of them.
“Most of you know that (surprise!) I am a Republican who has not been a supporter of Trump,” Chase wrote in that post. “You also know that I am very reasonable and enjoy seeing both sides of the political argument. I have been *appalled* at the treatment of people who support Trump and found this article an excellent read on that subject. Hope you all will take the time to read this!”
When asked whether Chase would apologize for her words, Murphy insisted that "swas ecstatic about his election. And even more ecstatic about the job he has done. President Trump won her over."
And that contradicts Chase's constant Trump-bashing throughout 2016. “Y’all had to know you couldn’t escape a political post on Super Tuesday. For those of you in primary states today, go vote. But it’d be a lot cooler if you didn’t vote for Trump. #dumpTrump,” she wrote on March 1, 2016.
Again on April 22, 2016, she wrote: “For my friends who think Trump is the anti-politician, welcome to The Game. You’ve been played. Every elected official breaks to the will of Washington because that’s how it works.”