RELEASE: Statement from VDP Chair Glidden on Insurrectionist VTGOP Convention Guest

Glidden to Republican Phil Scott: “Fix your party or quit it but no more having it both ways.”

Contact: Jim Dandeneau

Email: jdandeneau@vtdemocrats.org

Phone: (802) 489-6681

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 12, 2023 (Montpelier, VT)

Following the Vermont Republican Party’s announcement of coup promoter and insurrection VIP Scott Presler as a “featured guest” for their state party convention at the Waterfront Hilton in Burlington on November 18, Vermont Democratic Party Chair David Glidden issued the following statement.

“It’s time for Phil Scott to fix his party or own it. He has done nothing over the last seven years as the Vermont Republican Party has descended into conspiracy-mongering and this ‘honored speaker’ should be the last straw. The fact is, Phil Scott benefits from the Vermont Republican Party being a cesspit of conspiracy theorists and insurrectionists - he uses them as a contrast with his supposed moderation and lowers the bar for his aimless, mediocre governorship.”

Presler got his start as a conservative activist organizing anti-Muslim marches that drew neo-Nazis and white nationalists like flies to rotting garbage. He followed that up by becoming one of Donald Trump’s most passionate supporters, flirting with QAnon conspiracy theories before becoming a Stop the Steal celebrity and attending Trump’s insurrection kickoff in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021.

“I’m proud to be a Vermont Democrat,” said Glidden. “Is Phil Scott proud to be a Vermont Republican? Either he uses his popularity to clean house in his Republican Party or he admits to Democratic voters that he doesn’t care.”

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