State Sen. Jimmy Dillon of Philadelphia is probably somebody we could have gone our entire lives without ever knowing, thinking, or caring about. He’s just your average, run-of-mill state lawmaker who doesn’t seem to ruffle too many features and gets the job done.

Until this week, that is.

The 45-year-old Democratic lawmaker, who was first elected during a special election in 2022 and is currently seeking a four-year term, was just busted for allegedly writing some truly vile tweets between 2011 and 2015, while working as the director of the Hoops 24-7 Basketball Academy.

The tweets were written under his @Hoops24_7 Twitter handle and included repeated use of the N-word, as well as “jokes” about Asian people and gay people. Here’s just a sampling…

The tweets have since been deleted and, in a truly bizarre twist, Dillion said yesterday that he never wrote them and, in fact, had never even seen them before this week. It’s just the weirdest, craziest thing, you guys!

Then he blamed the whole thing on someone from his staff, even though he had control of the account at the time and would frequently post in the first person and share pics and videos of himself and his family. To this day, he still works at the basketball academy while also serving as state senator and the account continues to reshare his Senate posts.

“I’m not a big social media guy,” he said in yesterday’s statement. “If a basketball player who works with Hoops 24-7 posted something like this more than a decade ago, it’s the first I’ve heard about it, and it doesn’t reflect my values.”

Sure, blame is on some random, unidentified, low level staff member… who, in that case, clearly wasn’t being supervised very closely, since the tweets seemed to go unchecked for years and years. 🤔

The Senate Republican Campaign Committee shared screenshots of the tweets yesterday, along with a statement from executive director Cody Harbaugh condemning them.

“Let’s be clear, this was not a teenager making a mistake or a single comment taken out of context,” he said. “This was a grown man in his 30s casually using the N-word and making disgusting jokes repeatedly on his social media.”

In response, Dillon’s campaign pushed back by calling the SRCC’s accusations just another example of “typical, phony MAGA Republican distraction.”

“They’re taking decades old tweets someone else wrote and waving them around like a bunch of maniacs,” spokesperson Mark Nevins said. “Meanwhile, they’re hoping we’re too dumb to notice that, at the same time, they’re trying to rip away women’s reproductive rights, prevent access to IVF treatments, and block commonsense gun violence legislation. Sorry weirdos. It’s not happening.”

Huh?

Meanwhile, Brittany Crampsie, a spokesperson for the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, also came to Dillon’s defense.

“Senator Dillon’s record speaks for itself,” she said. “At every opportunity, he has been a strong advocate and consistent vote in support of Black and LGBTQ Pennsylvanians. He has nurtured and trained young people from all backgrounds his entire career. Distasteful tweets from more than a decade ago written by someone else don’t change that.”

This whole Twitter X controversy is just the lastest in a string of scandals Dillion has recently become ensnared in. Earlier this month, it was reported he has an arrest warrant out in New Jersey for unpaid tickets for speeding and driving without a license, as well as skipping his court appearance. Dillion has not commented on that matter.

Crampsie was right about one thing. The guy’s record really does seem to speak for itself!

In Pennsylvania, Republicans control the state Senate 28 to 22. They hope to expand their majority in November. Meanwhile, Democrats are seeking to grow their numbers. But with Dillion on the ballot, it seems like that’s going to be an uphill battle.

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