South Carolina’s Democratic Party on Tuesday suspended a state senator who suggested that a Republican state lawmaker could win the 2018 election if he’s “dumb enough” to run for president.
The suspension of state Sen. David Campbell, a Republican, follows a similar suspension last month of South Carolina Republican state Rep. Ryan Jones, a former state Supreme Court justice.
A Republican Party official told Politico the two senators are now suspended without pay pending an internal investigation.
The decision came after Campbell, who is black, made a remark on Twitter that was interpreted by some as an attack on Republican candidate Roy Moore.
“If you want to beat a GOP candidate, you just need to be dumb enough to run as a Republican,” Campbell tweeted.
“A Democrat won’t win the White House and you can’t win a Senate seat by being dumb enough or smart enough to stand in a way that is detrimental to the party.
So that’s how you beat them.
That’s how the election will be won.”
The tweet was later deleted and Campbell was allowed to return to his job.
The tweet has been removed.
Democratic Party Chairman Bill McCallum issued a statement saying the party will continue to support Campbell in his efforts to win reelection to the House.
“While the South Carolina Democrats and Republicans have different points of view, we all share the same belief that the only way we are going to achieve lasting progress is by working together to address the pressing issues facing our state,” the statement read.
“We support David Campbell and hope he continues to support his party and the people of South Carolinas.”
A statement from Moore’s campaign did not directly address the tweet, but said in a statement that the Republican candidate was “unfair” to Democratic candidate Mark Schauer.
Moore’s office has previously said the Republican was misquoted.
The Republican Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suspension.
Moore lost to Schauer in the Republican primary.
The party’s statement on the Campbell suspension did not specifically address whether Campbell could win in 2018.
The Democratic Party statement did say the party is “confident” that the South Carolinian “will be the next state senator” if he runs.
Campbell, 51, was first elected to the state House in 1998 and was elected to his current position in 2011.
He previously served in the state Senate for 18 years.
His father, David, served in two U.S. Senate offices before becoming the state’s solicitor general.
Campbell also served as a state Supreme Judicial Court judge.
Campbell’s tweet was in response to the news that the National Republican Senatorial Committee is backing the campaign of former Florida Gov.
Rick Scott, who was endorsed by the Senate GOP and is running in 2018 as the Republican nominee.
Scott is facing allegations of sexual misconduct by multiple women, including a woman who says he initiated a sexual relationship with her in 2011, a woman whose claim has been supported by multiple Republicans, and a woman claiming she was sexually assaulted by him when she was a teenager.
The Trump campaign said in March that it was supporting Scott in the race, but the Republican National Committee later withdrew its endorsement.
In an interview with Fox News, Scott said that he believed that the allegations were politically motivated.
“I don’t think I’ve been guilty of anything,” Scott said.
“In my opinion, they are a witch hunt.
They are a smear campaign.
I have nothing to do with them.
They should stop.”