Milwaukee GOP group removes tweet mocking Justice Ginsburg

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee County GOP deleted a tweet Tuesday that mocks Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by suggesting President Abraham Lincoln groped her.

The tweet featured a meme that’s been making the rounds on social media for the past week or so amid the ongoing debate over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. It shows a picture of the 85-year-old Ginsburg and says, “Abraham Lincoln grabbed my ass in 1862.” It was posted on Monday but was deleted Tuesday morning.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin tweeted its condemnation of the message, calling it “disgusting and an insult to the brave women who have come forward to tell their truth.” It asked how Wisconsin GOP leaders feel about their party “mocking and belittling the trauma of sexual assault survivors.”

Addressing Republican women, State Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa tweeted that it’s clear their party doesn’t value them and that “sexual harassment is a joke to them.”

Milwaukee County GOP chair Sam Hagedorn declined to say who posted the meme. He said three people have access to that account and that nobody has been disciplined for it. He said they took the tweet down because a member “was concerned about it.” But he said the party isn’t apologizing.

“It’s taken down so I really don’t have anything else to say,” he said.

Hagedorn is the father of Brian Hagedorn, a candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court and former chief legal counsel to Gov. Scott Walker.

A South Carolina congressman came under fire last week for making a similar comment. Rep. Ralph Norman joked during a debate that another high court judge had emerged with her own accusations of sexual assault. He said, “Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out that she was groped by Abraham Lincoln.”

The remark sparked immediate condemnation from South Carolina Democrats.