News/Commentary

Republican school board member’s lewd Kamala Harris slam sparks local firestorm

August 6, 2024 | | Print Article

Crass commentary put a Pennsylvania school board member’s position in the crosshairs amid outrage over a less than tongue-in-cheek allegation about the vice president.

The party of diversity and inclusion once again demonstrated there was no room for dissent in a school district outside Philadelphia after the Republican director of the Souderton School Board exercised more free speech than his leftist peers were comfortable with.

After Vice President Kamala Harris asserted, “I will proudly put my record against Donald Trump’s,” the question, “WHAT RECORD?” was followed by a challenge to name “ONE THING this chick has accomplished politically…”

Before backlash and a petition prompted him to deactivate his X account, Bill Formica had succinctly suggested, “She blew a lot of dudes.”

As community members and social media users called for him to lose his position, other posts from Formica were circulated including one where, prior to his appointment, he’d said, “Why does everyone still gush over teachers? They have a great gig. Can’t be fired, only work 9 months out of the year, great pension, and no accountability for their performance. There are many jobs that are much worse.”

Joining the outrage of nearly 1,500 people, Souderton teacher Christine Jackson commented on the petition, “As a teacher in the district I know how much emphasis we put on teaching our students that ‘Character Counts’, that bullying in any form is not acceptable, and that inappropriate social media use has consequences.”

“We teach the importance of building others up regardless of differences in opinions, race, gender, or political stance and that every student (male or female) can achieve something better for themselves through diligent work,” she went on. “Mr Formica’s comment demonstrates that he has no understanding of these ideals and he should not be representing the district or be making decisions for the children living in this community.”

In their own statement on the post, Souderton Superintendent Frank Gallagher and president of the Souderton Area Board of School Directors Ken Keith noted, “Last week, one of our School Board members used inappropriate language and poor judgment in a comment posted on social media regarding Vice President Kamala Harris.”

“The comments or actions of an individual board member, administrator or employee of the District do not represent the board as a whole, the administration or others in our employee groups,” they added before indicating, “The Board has asked for some time to process this situation and that time is being afforded.”

“Words matter. Respect matters. Our schools and offices must be spaces where diverse opinions are honored — but where respect is required,” the statement also said.

Formica’s reference was hardly the first time that someone had suggested Harris’ personal relationships were the source of her career success. In fact, podcaster Alec Lace caused a stir on Fox Business when he asserted, “Kamala Harris — she’s the original ‘Hawk Tuah girl.’ That’s the way she got where she is and the party’s going downhill if it’s in her hands.”

Of course, an ulterior motive for the outrage against Formica became apparent as the political action committee Souderton Area for Responsible Leadership proposed that removing Formica should be followed by appointing Elise Bowers to the board having earned “the next highest number of votes” in 2023.

Ahead of the election, The Reporter had profiled the candidates running for the board and Bowers peddled the narrative about “separation of church and state” as she expressed, “I am running to support our Democracy, starting with the best education we can get our kids.”

This included her picking the side that favored lewd and pornographic materials being made available to children in school libraries.

Kevin Haggerty
Latest posts by Kevin Haggerty (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles