WRAL: “The Republican Party’s new appointee to the North Carolina House was at the U.S. Capitol for the Jan. 6 protest-turned-riot and said he was close enough to the Capitol breach to get hit repeatedly with tear gas.”

The North Carolina Republican party has picked a COVID-19 conspiracy theorist and January 6th capitol insurrection attendee to fill the term of a late Gaston County lawmaker. Republicans don’t seem to mind that Donnie Loftis was “close enough to the Capitol breach to get hit repeatedly with tear gas” or that the former hospital board member resigned after he “posted messages about coronavirus conspiracies.”

When Republican Party officials were asked about the controversial selection, every single person declined to comment. Why won’t House Speaker Tim Moore or the state Republican Party weigh in?

“Elected officials take an oath to ‘support, protect, and defend the United States Constitution’ – a commitment which Donnie Loftis has already demonstrated he is not fit to uphold,” said NCDP spokesperson Rachel Stein. “North Carolinians don’t want a far-right representative who pushes conspiracy theories that undermine public health and sow division that undermines our democracy. This pick demonstrates how extreme and out of touch today’s Republican Party has become.”

Read more from recent WRAL articles. 

• WRAL: Incoming NC lawmaker was at Jan. 6 US Capitol protests, riot

• WRAL: New NC lawmaker resigned hospital position last year over COVID-19 posts

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