BRACKEN COUNTY, Ky. — The Bracken County Republican Party is facing backlash after an anti-Semitic message was posted on its official Facebook page.
The post, which went up Friday, targeted the new ATF Director Steve Dettlebach.
"A Jewish anti-gun activist, Steve Dettlebach, has just been made director of the ATF," the post reads. "The Jewish junta is getting stronger and more aggressive."
The word "junta" is defined as a military or political group that rules a country after taking power by force.
The post has since been deleted. The KY Jewish Council posted a picture of the original message to Twitter along with the initial response from Karin Kirkindol, the Bracken County GOP chair.
The antisemitic post today by the Bracken County Republican Party was absolutely unacceptable.
We appreciate the quick condemnation from Party chair Kirkindol, but the message went beyond inappropriate & insensitive, and further inquiry is needed.
Hate has no place in KY. pic.twitter.com/djkdxywjAC
— KY Jewish Council (@KyJewishCouncil) July 15, 2022
"Earlier today, I was made aware of an inappropriate post on the Bracken County GOP Facebook page," Kirkendol wrote on Twitter. "That post does not represent the values of the Bracken County Republican Party. It was incredibly insensitive. We will investigate how this occurred and we commit to tighter oversight of our social media going forward."
WCPO reached out to Kirkendol for a statement along with a few questions about how this happened. Kirkendol did not answer our questions but did provide the following statement.
"This post does not represent the views or values of the Bracken County Republican Party. We condemn its content in the strongest terms possible."
The Republican Party of Kentucky is also condemning the language in the post.
"We want to make it clear: It does not represent the values or ideals of the Republican Party of Kentucky," said Republican Party of Kentucky director of communications Sean Southard.
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