Source: The News & Observer
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore and a pair of top Republican donors are lining up behind Michele Morrow, despite her long history of deeply troubling statements – including one calling for the televised execution of President Barack Obama.
Moore, who is running for Congress, called Morrow’s comments “not appropriate,” but made his priorities clear. “I’m a good loyal fellow Republican. I’m gonna vote for the Republican nominees for office,” he told reporters earlier this month.
In addition to Moore, two of North Carolina’s top Republican donors, real estate developer John Kane and businessman Bob Luddy, hosted a fundraiser for Morrow this month at Kane’s house.
Luddy told WUNC in an email that he’s not concerned by Morrow’s social media posts because “I think it was a spoof.” Morrow, meanwhile, has defended her tweets, including the one calling for the execution of Obama, by claiming Obama committed treason.
“She is becoming normalized through these endorsements, through these fundraisers,” said David McLennan, a political science professor at Meredith College. “She is moving from being viewed as an extremist to someone who is a flag bearer for the Republican Party.”
Morrow is running to be the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a position that oversees North Carolina public schools and its $11 billion budget. Republican leaders and donors, McLennan explained, would “rather have a controversial Michele Morrow as superintendent of public instruction than a Democrat.”
