** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE **
October 2, 2017
RCLC Chairman Condemns “Alt-Right”
LANCASTER, PA — This past weekend at the Ephrata Fair, the Ephrata Area Republican Committee had a booth set up with information and materials on our GOP candidates. All of our local area committees do the same at their respective fairs. The “Alt-Right” stopped by our booth and “tagged” us on Facebook and Twitter and put our candidates and logo on their social media pages.
First, we wholeheartedly disavow and completely condemn any association with this group. They do not reflect our conservative Lancaster County values. We reject association with any group – right or left – that advocate hateful rhetoric and violence. The Alt-Right fits that description.
Back in August of this year, our PAGOP Chairman, Val DiGiorgio, said in a statement that “anyone who promotes bigotry is not welcome in the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, and we disavow them in the strongest terms.” That will always remain true for the Republican Committee of Lancaster County as well.
Second, we condemn anyone or any group that suggests that the Republican Committee or its candidates endorse or support them and their extremism, and we likewise condemn such attempts to give our citizens the impression that we do endorse or support such extremism. We ask them to remove any such portrayal immediately.
In Lancaster County, we have looked up to stalwarts such as Thaddeus Stevens, Bob Walker, Joe Pitts, Marilyn Ware, and countless others that have devoted their life to equality for all. The Republican Party has always stood for a commitment to entrusting a stronger, safer, better future for the next generation. Hate and violence have no place in that future.
In the wake of the horrendous and heinous act in Las Vegas, where everyone affected is in our thoughts and prayers, the last thing we need is division amongst us. It is time to unify as a country and make America strong and safe.
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