Comal County GOP Chair Sue Piner Asked to Step Down Over Racist Facebook Post

“I pay white cops to murder black people. And then I pay black people to riot. Because race wars keep the sheep in line.”

Comal County Republican Party Chair Sue Gafford Piner is being asked to step down this week by at least one prominent Texas Republican for sharing this sentiment on her Facebook page last Sunday, along with an image of liberal Jewish billionaire George Soros.

Piner joins other Texas GOP county chairs who also were criticized by state leaders today for making racially charged remarks and floating this conspiracy-theory meme on Facebook in the wake of nationwide protests following the May 25 murder of a black man, George Floyd, by a white Minneapolis police officer.

Click here, here, and here to read today’s articles about those statements and posts by Bexar County GOP Chairwoman Cynthia Brehm, Harris County GOP Chairman-Elect Keith Nielsen, Harrison County GOP Chair Lee Lester, and Nueces County GOP Chairman Jim Kaelin.

Texas Railroad Commissioner George P. Bush tweeted on Thursday that “appalling behavior by four GOP county leaders must not stand. I urge them to do the honorable thing and step aside now.”

“Piner’s post managed to be racist, anti-semitic, and a dangerous conspiracy, all at once,” Texas Democratic Party posted on its website.

Piner, Canyon Lake Republican Women and Texas Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-73, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called for the resignations of Brehm and Kaelin.

On Facebook, Texas Sen. Donna Campbell, D-25, defended the Republican Party as the party of Lincoln and Civil Rights.

“I am heartbroken to see insensitive and divisive rhetoric being expressed over the tragic killing of George Floyd when our nation needs healing,” she said. “I ask all leaders to set an example and be the light in the darkness that overcomes hate.”

But Campbell also is calling for the resignation of Brehm, who posted that Floyd’s death was deliberately staged to stoke racial tensions.

Piner’s post refers to a widely discredited conspiracy theory that Soros is underwriting a race war.

Although her Soros post has been deleted, on June 2 Piner posted an image of the Black Lives Matter rally in New Braunfels, commenting “Trump flag answers protesters in New Braunfels Today at the courthouse square.”

“So you are proudly saying you are a racist,” one commenter said. “As chairman of the county Republican Party, you should resign unless the whole party is as racist as you are. Black lives matter.”

Texas Democratic Party Communications Director Abhi Rahman said today that Piner should step down.

In a statement, he said this week’s events reveal a deep-rooted, systemic problem within the Texas Republican Party.

“Four county party chairs all uploading racist, conspiratorial posts to Facebook is not a coincidence — it’s a pattern.”