MO Democratic Party reprimands staff after post suggested house with Trump flags ‘burn’
The Missouri Democratic Party on Wednesday said a social media post suggesting that a house covered in Trump flags should burn was inappropriate. The party said the staff member responsible was disciplined after it deleted the post from its official account.
“It was inappropriate and was immediately taken down on our own initiative because it did not represent the need, even in these divided political times, for spirited yet constructive dialogue,” Matthew Patterson, the party’s executive director, said in a statement to The Star. “The staff member in question has been appropriately reprimanded.”
Patterson’s statement did not identify the staff member or specify what type of punishment the staff member received.
The since-deleted post Monday on the party’s official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, was in response to a post from Jon Cooper, a prominent Democratic fundraiser, who asked “what would you do if this was your next-door neighbor?” with a photo of a house draped in flags supporting former Republican President Donald Trump.
“The roof, the roof is on [fire emoji] we don’t need no water, let the ‘insert your word’ burn!” the Missouri Democratic Party posted in response. The post was a reference to the 1984 single “The Roof is on Fire,” by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three.
The post quickly sparked criticism from both sides of the aisle, including from Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who shared screenshots and condemned the party, accusing it of promoting violence.
“Here’s the Missouri Democrat Party advocating for a Trump supporter’s home to burn down. Sick,” Hawley posted on social media this week. “There’s no place for this kind of disgusting, violent rhetoric in Missouri.”
Patterson said Wednesday that it was “beyond hypocrisy that Josh Hawley is now attempting to lecture people about inflammatory political activity.”
Hawley, who regularly weighs into controversies, was the first senator to announce plans to object to the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. He was photographed pumping his fist at a crowd outside the Capitol shortly before the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
In a follow-up post on Tuesday, Hawley called on Missouri Democrats to condemn the post.
State Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, in an interview with The Star, said the post was “completely unacceptable.”
“I oppose any sort of call for violence, especially political violence when it comes to opponents,” she said. “I’m glad to see that action being taken and I think, probably, it’s long overdue at this point.”
Arthur added that the country is better served when everyone agrees that there’s “no room for that kind of discourse.”
“I hope that all elected officials and everyone who sort of engages in the political process, sort of hold themselves to high standards,” she said. “I think there are several examples of Republicans not policing themselves in the same kind of way.”
U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, a freshman Missouri Republican, in an interview, said the post was an example of “of what not to do and how we don’t need violent rhetoric.”
“I don’t think that would be appropriate anywhere,” he said. “I’m glad to see that the Democratic Party took it down.”
State Rep. Sarah Unsicker, a Shrewsbury Democrat who is running for state attorney general, posted Tuesday that “Any organization that would post something like this needs a new social media director.”
“Whoever posted this from the @modemparty and left it up long enough for a screenshot should be fired,” Unsicker posted. “This does not represent Missouri Democratic values.”
