North Dakota legislator Rep. Roscoe Streyle (R, Fargo) criticized for libtard tweet
He is a name-calling bully just like Trump!
North Dakota legislator criticized for ‘libtard’ tweet
https://www.twincities.com/2018/01/02/north-dakota-legislator-criticized-for-libtard-tweet/
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North Dakota House Majority leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, left, and Rep. Roscoe Streyle, R-Minot, talk on the floor of the North Dakota House of Representatives. (Tom Stromme / Forum News Service 2015 file)
By John Hageman / Pioneer Press
January 2, 2018 at 3:27 pm
BISMARCK — A North Dakota legislator said he used a “poor choice of words” Tuesday after calling a fellow Twitter user a “libtard” Friday morning.
It wasn’t the first time Rep. Roscoe Streyle used the insult, and a Concordia College student has since launched an online petition calling for the Minot Republican’s removal from office. That petition, which is outside the formal recall process enshrined in the state Constitution, had more than 200 signatures by 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“It’s very offensive to people with disabilities,” Linden Stave said. “It just reflects really poorly.”
Streyle, who has since deleted the tweet telling someone else to “go pound sand libtard,” used the insult 10 times between Sept. 11 and Dec. 19, including one that tagged Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. But he disputed Stave’s assertion that it’s formed by combining the words “liberal” and “retard.”
“If you look up the word of ‘tard’ … in the dictionary, it’s someone who is stupid but in an annoying way. It’s not retarded,” Streyle said. “I admit when I’m wrong and this time I was totally wrong.”
A search of Merriam-Webster and Oxford online dictionaries did not yield results for “tard.”
Streyle’s “libtard” tweet was a response to another Twitter user, whom Stave doesn’t know, who disputed Streyle’s declaration that “North Dakota loves” President Donald Trump.
The tweet was consistent with Streyle’s behavior on the social media site, where he has used “moron” to describe a North Dakota attorney fighting the state’s voter ID law, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, among others. He called Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas,” a jab favored by Trump.
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