NC Republican lawmaker loses his leadership role after racist question on House floor
Two Republican members of the North Carolina House have resigned from leadership positions within their caucus.
Both Reps. Jeff McNeely of Stony Point and Keith Kidwell of Chocowinity held deputy whip positions in the House Republican Caucus, and both made controversial comments last week. During a House floor debate over private school scholarships, McNeely, who is white, asked Rep. Abe Jones, who is Black, if he got into Harvard University because he was a minority or an athlete. Jones responded to the racist line of questioning with his academic record, and accepted McNeely’s apology.
Kidwell was heard by a WRAL reporter — and by teenagers who serve as pages in the legislature — making a joke about the “church of Satan” while Democratic Rep. Diamond Staton-Williams was giving a speech about her faith during the abortion debate.
Staton-Williams told The News & Observer on Thursday that Kidwell has not apologized. Jones told The N&O on Thursday that McNeely apologized twice, as did several other House Republicans.
Republican House Majority Leader John Bell announced the resignations during a non-voting House session on Thursday morning.
Neither lawmaker is resigning from the legislature.
There are six other whips within the caucus. McNeely and Kidwell are part of the unofficial ultraconservative Freedom Caucus, and Kidwell chairs that caucus, which is a group within the Republican caucus.
Kidwell also holds a powerful committee position: He is senior chair of the House Finance Committee.
‘Accountability’ for McNeely and Kidwell
House Republican Caucus Director Stephen Wiley said the decision for their resignations happened Tuesday or Wednesday.
Asked to confirm if McNeely and Kidwell lost their positions because of what they said last week, Wiley said:
“I mean I think it’s pretty apparent, that’s why.”
Rep. Jon Hardister, a Guilford County Republican and the House majority whip, said McNeely and Kidwell “said things that were outside the bounds of what most people consider to be professional conduct.”
Hardister said that Republican leaders had a discussion with them about how they are held to a higher standard because they had caucus leadership positions.
“At the same time, politics can invoke passion. Topics being discussed when those comments were made were deeply personal, and when that happens sometimes it’s best to take a deep breath and think about what you’re saying,” Hardister told The N&O on Thursday.
“My assessment is, in this case that didn’t happen. But there has to be accountability. That’s what it comes down to, accountability,” he said.
Hardister said he still counts McNeely and Kidwell as friends.
He said a decision has not been made about replacing Kidwell and McNeely’s deputy whip positions.
The N&O has contacted McNeely and Kidwell for comment.
Apologies
In a statement, Bell noted the announcement on the floor and said: “As elected officials, we must serve by example and be accountable for our actions, especially as leaders in the caucus.”
“While apologies have been made and accepted, we believe this is an appropriate action and step forward. The House Republican Caucus remains united as we work towards our shared goals this legislative session,” Bell said.
McNeely apologized to Jones both on the House floor and privately, with Jones accepting his apology, The N&O previously reported.
“I took it as sincere. I try not to be someone who judges a man’s heart. That’s God’s business,” Jones said.
Jones said the “greater lesson for the public is he’s not the only person who thinks that way. Being an athlete and a high academic scholar doesn’t mean you just get in (to Harvard) because you’re an athlete or a minority. I think most people know that already. That’s the myth I want destroyed.”
Jones said that while he ran track, he wasn’t at the level of it getting him into college.
“I was a darn good student, that’s how I got to Harvard and Harvard Law School,” he said.
Jones told The N&O on Thursday that McNeely apologized multiple times that day and later at an event. He also said that several House Republicans came to him individually to share their disapproval of McNeely’s comments. Jones said it made him feel better that other House Republicans did not feel the same way.
Jones said he didn’t know the caucus had planned for McNeely to resign his leadership position, and he didn’t ask them for it.
“I’m satisfied with what I hear has happened and I think its appropriate, and we can move on. And it showed on their side of the line that they didn’t like it either,” Jones said.
Kidwell and McNeely apologized to the House Republican Caucus members, but Staton-Williams told The N&O that Kidwell has not apologized to her.
She said she doesn’t have a “big reaction, really,” to the Republican caucus leadership changes.
“I think I believe the GOP leadership did what they thought was best and I stand behind their decision,” she said. Asked if there should have been other repercussions, Staton-Williams said those “decisions that were made are outside of my control, and whatever the leadership came up with is appropriate.”
Democrats respond
House Minority Leader Robert Reives, a Chatham County Democrat, said he thinks the House Republican Caucus decision to remove McNeely and Kidwell from leadership was appropriate and that there’s “just no place for certain types of conduct.”
“We’ve got to respect the institution, we’ve got to respect each other and we’ve got to be respectful of other members, especially,” Reives told reporters in his office on Thursday.
“I’m glad to see that there at least has been an addressing of it at this time,” he said.
Reives said a majority of the House Republican caucus “don’t think like this,” but that the growth of the House’s Freedom Caucus has “changed the tenor of the caucus.” He also pointed to a change in that tenor since the 2022 elections, and said that “in politics, we have just set a really bad tone in the way that we relate to each other.”
“And ultimately, no matter what it’s based on, that’s what it gets to. So it’s not just about racial undertones. It’s not just about misogyny, it’s not just about, you know, disparate treatment of other minority groups. It is about a general consensus, that it’s OK to treat badly, people who are not like you,” Reives said.
Senate Republicans ‘would not do those sorts of things,’ Berger says
Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, told reporters on Thursday that he thinks “everybody was concerned” about the comments by Kidwell and McNeely.
“I’ll leave it up to the speaker as to how to deal with with the members of his caucus. It would be my expectation that our members would not do those sorts of things,” Berger said.
Reives said that while House Speaker Tim Moore decides who chairs committees, Kidwell’s role as Finance chair “is one of the most powerful positions in the House. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about that. And so I think if you ask most members, whether or not they could be a whip, or they could be chair of Finance, they would choose to be chair of Finance.”
This story was originally published May 25, 2023, 10:40 AM.
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