Jon Venverloh, a California school board president, is resigning after his wife made racist and misogynistic comments about Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Twitter.
After Harris was named vice president-elect, Mehridith Philips Venverloh commented on a tweet thread that questioned Harris’ qualifications. “All she needs to be qualified is a black p*ssy! No brain needed!” she wrote. Philips also accused Harris, who is slated to be the first Black vice president as well as the first female one, of using sex to “wh*re her way to the top,” according to Mercury News. In Philips’ other posts, she attacked LGBTQ+ individuals, according to the New York Post.
The tweets, which were posted on Sunday, made their way around teacher and parent groups. Within hours, more than 100 people in the school’s community signed a petition condemning the racist tweets. The petition called Philips Venverloh’s actions “intolerable” and said that such “bigoted statements” have no place in the Las Lomitas Elementary School District.
Philips Venverloh later apologized on her since-deleted account, saying she wrote the “vulgar words” in a “moment of disappointment” as she is a supporter of outgoing President Donald Trump, according to Mercury News. She also reportedly blamed her actions on medication she’s taking for a “debilitating neurological disease.”
The same day Philips Venverloh made the remarks, her husband, who is also a former Google executive, resigned. In a Facebook post announcing his resignation, Jon Venverloh called his wife’s views “reprehensible” and claimed that he does “not agree with” them. “Given my wife’s social media posts … I know that my continued service would be a distraction from the work that needs to be done in the district,” he added.
Venverloh reportedly had two years remaining in his term at the time of his resignation.
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H/T Mercury News
