Stringer doubles down on remarks

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State Rep. David Stringer says he doesn’t intend to resign for saying that African Americans “don’t blend in.”

Or for explaining that the demise of America’s middle class is the work of immigrants.

Or for generally blaming all of our nation’s ills on people of color.

That’s because it’s all true, he explained to the Prescott Valley Town Council on Thursday evening.

“I believe that everything I‘ve said, if you look at what I actually said, is defensible, that it is truthful, that it is factually accurate, that it can be supported by academic research,” the Prescott Republican said.

Stringer’s comments, reported by Arizona Mirror’s Jeremy Duda, came during Thursday evening’s council meeting, where Stringer and his seatmates, Senate President Karen Fann and Rep. Noel Campbell, were on hand to discuss legislative issues.

Councilman Martin Grossman jumped on the elephant in the council room, telling Stringer he should resign given his pariah status at the state Capitol.

“Your effectiveness as a representative of this area is zero. In fact, it’s minus zero,” Grossman said. “We cannot have a representative saying the things you’re saying. You can have those personal opinions. But the fact that you’re a state representative and you’re supposed to represent all of the people, those comments are totally wrong and they should not be said, especially in public.”

Stringer was defiant — and delusional.

“I am not going to disenfranchise the thousands and thousands of people who just returned me to office a month ago,” he said.

Me? I’m thinking he already disenfranchised the voters in his district. How many of his bills will get hearings? How many of his colleagues will want to seen anywhere near a guy who believes that people who aren’t white are basically ruining our country?

Essentially, his presence means that Prescott-area voters will have one two-thirds of the representation of the rest of us.

Naturally, Stringer blamed this conflagration on the media, saying his comments have been “misreported”. He urged people to read the full transcript of his latest remarks, made last month to several Arizona State University students who taped the exchange.

But the most remarkable thing Stringer said on Thursday is that he still can be an effective legislator, given the 31-29 makeup of next year’s House.

“I am a 31st vote for the governor’s agenda, for the agenda of the leadership of the House of Representatives. Every legislator in the state House of Representatives is going to be consequential. And for that reason I think

I’m going to be able to continue to be an effective legislator for my district,” he told the council.

Because, apparently, no other Republican in Legislative District 1 could possibly be appointed to take his place and supply that 31st vote.

Rep. Campbell is standing by his seatmate, saying Stringer shouldn’t be ostracized for expressing an opinion.

“I know what he said was racially insensitive,” Campbell told the Prescott Valley council. “But it’s not racist, in my opinion.”

Campbell may find himself lonely as he stands by his man.

House Speaker Rusty Bowers has stripped Stringer of his chairmanship, vice chairmanship and a seat on the House Education Committee, calling his comments “vile” and “disgusting.”

Among those calling for Stringer’s resignation:

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who called Stringer’s comments “disqualifying.”

State GOP Chairman Jonathan Lines, who objected to Stringer’s “racist commentary which can only be attributed to a perspective that is out of touch with reality.”

Senate President Karen Fann, RPrescott, who said Stringer “has given doubt among his legislative peers regarding his judgment and ability to represent his district.”

Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk

abit who called his comments “a disgrace and his views do not reflect the sentiments of our state.”

The Prescott City Council, which said his “misguided, outdated, and offensive opinions reflect poorly and inaccurately on all of us.”

The state and Maricopa County chapters of the NAACP, which cited “his clear and direct bias against people of color.”

The East Valley branch of the NAACP, which objected to his “insensitive and racially divisive words.”

Greater Phoenix Leadership, which said Stringer’s “continued racist comments are not reflective of the values of Arizona and have no place in the Arizona Legislature.”

Phoenix Councilman Sal DiCiccio, who said “there is no place for white supremacy in the Republican Party, and any attempts to explain away or otherwise excuse David Stringer’s words and conduct only serve to embolden the forces of evil.”

House Democrats, who said “What our caucus celebrates as a symbol of our country’s unique strength and progress, Rep. David Stringer clearly sees as an existential threat to the American way of life.”

And the Humboldt Unified School District, which didn’t call for Stringer’s resignation but barred him from its schools and said of his comments, “a plain reading reveals blatant racism.”

It’s worth noting, however, that not a single Republican in the Arizona House has called for Stringer’s resignation.