Nebraska Democratic Party official Phil Montag lost his position on June 22 after being caught on tape saying he was “glad” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was shot.
“This [expletive], his whole job is to get people, convince Republicans to [expletive] kick people off of [expletive] health care. I hate this [expletive]. I’m [expletive] glad he got shot. I’m glad he got shot. I’m not gonna [expletive] say that publicly. … I wish he was [expletive] dead,” Montag is heard saying on a recording that was posted on talkrealsolutions.com, a black news and advocacy site.
The World-Herald sent a link to the recording to Montag’s boss, Nebraska Democratic Chairwoman Jane Kleeb, who immediately fired him from his position of co-chair of the party’s Technology Committee, the paper reported.
Scalise was seriously injured by a shooter who targeted Republicans during a congressional baseball practice on June 14. His condition has since been upgraded to fair.
Montag told The World-Herald his words were taken out of context.
“Like every decent American I am saddened and horrified by the shooting of Congressman Scalise,” he said in an email. “I do not and did not wish for his death. I am hopeful that the entirety of the original, unedited recording will emerge so we can get to the truth of the matter.”
He said he made the remarks during a conversation with Nebraska Democratic Party Black Caucus Chair Chelsey Gentry-Tipton and her friend Destin Madison.
The talk lasted 30-60 minutes of which only about 50 seconds were posted online. Madison is heard in the recording saying he intended to publish it.
