A Virginia Republican has been asked to step down from his elected position after slurring his gubernatorial opponent with a racially charged insult.
Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, called Ed Gillespie, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, a "cuckservative" Thursday in a post on the Reddit website, reported the Prince William Times.
The slur was popularized in the "alt-right" white nationalist movement, and a school board member from Stewart's county is asking the GOP candidate to resign from his post due to the expression's racist connotations.
“The term is an accusation by the alt-right of being a race traitor because supporting tolerance and diversity means weakening the power of ‘white Americans’ (hence, cuckolding yourself),” said Willie Deutsch, a school board member in Prince William County. “Corey Stewart is explicitly wrapping himself in white nationalism and accusing Ed Gillespie of insufficiently prioritizing whites over other races.”
Another Republican on the board of supervisors said Stewart's comments were unacceptable but stopped short of calling for his resignation.
"I cannot tolerate the board of supervisors' chairman knowingly using language that is not consistent with the values of the families of Prince William County," said Marty Nohe, a county supervisor. "I'm waiting for Corey to take ownership of his comments and responsibility for the consequences."
Stewart admits using the term on Reddit to describe Gillespie, who is white, but he denies any racist intent.
“A cuckservative is a false conservative or a fake conservative, someone who claims to be a conservative but isn’t,” Stewart said. “And that’s what Ed Gillespie is.”
He compared the expression to "RINO," an acronym for "Republican in name only," and refused to quit his county post.
Stewart, who disagrees with the removal of public displays of Confederate monuments, is running against Gillespie and state Sen. Frank Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) in the GOP gubernatorial primary.
