MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- Ohio Rep. Candice Keller, R-Middletown, says she would not have appeared on an Internet podcast if she had known the host pushes an agenda for “the existence of our race and a future for white children.”
The freshman state representative in February went on the “Sonny Thomas Show” to promote her proposed legislation that would crackdown on cities that refuse to enforce federal immigration laws.
Keller told the Journal-News she mistook the host of the Internet podcast, Brian “Sonny” Thomas, with a Cincinnati-based radio host with a similar name.
“I know nothing about this guy,” Keller said of Thomas. “Until (Monday), I found out he was a white supremacist. That was the first I’d heard of it.”
Keller, who said she was fielding media requests from multiple local and national news outlets about her proposed legislation, was on the podcast show for about 30 minutes.
Thomas, who is founder of the Springboro Tea Party, has made local and national headlines after he unfurled a Confederate flag at a Springboro school board meeting in a speech defending Constitution classes canceled by the district and his unsuccessful run to unseat an Ohio GOP committee member.
Keller compared Planned Parenthood to Nazis on her Facebook page last week, drawing fire on social media from supporters of the organization and others who felt it was inappropriate.
Keller, who is also executive director of the Community Pregnancy Center in Middletown, posted a meme that included the statement, “One day we will look back at this” with an arrow pointing to the Planned Parenthood logo, and then “the same way we look back at this,” with an arrow pointing to the Nazi swastika.
Keller is a Pro-Life advocate and has voiced her opinions against abortion in the past on her Twitter and Facebook accounts.
“Just as the Nazis took the lives of millions of innocent people and sold their valuables for profit, Planned Parenthood has done likewise as we have seen in hidden camera videos,” she said in a written statement. “Planned Parenthood is a horrific industry that profits from the innocent and the American people should be appalled at their unconscionable activities.”
Since her appearance on Thomas’ show, Keller said she’s been labeled a racist.
“It’s a ludicrous idea to label me as a racist because I appeared on a radio talk show. I was unaware of the guy’s reputation or I would’ve never done the show. I went on the show because we just introduced the idea of a sanctuary city bill. That is all that we talked about,” she said.
