The chief strategist of the Rhode Island Democratic Party is being slammed for her tasteless tweet about South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had revealed that he contracted COVID-19 despite being vaccinated.
“It’s wrong to hope he dies from Covid right? Asking for a friend. #COVIDISNOTOVER #LINDSEYGRAHAM,” Kate Coyne-McCoy wrote Monday night about the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.
Matthew Foldi, a reporter for the Free Beacon who posted a screengrab of the since-deleted tweet, wrote in a post that “the de facto executive director of the @RIDemParty apparently wants #SCEN @LindseyGrahamSC to die of coronavirus.”
Coyne-McCoy on Tuesday morning said she “made a mistake.”
“I used poor judgement which I obviously regret,” she said in a tweet.
Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman Joe McNamara said her comment doesn’t reflect the values of the party.
“It was a stupid thing to do and I’m glad she … made an apology,” McNamara, who said he was “furious” over the comment, he told NBC 10’s Gene Valicenti on his WPRO radio show.
McNamara said he has texted Coyne-McCoy about the matter and that the party will review her contract as a consultant.
“It’s a horrible thing to say, especially in light of the fact that we have lost so many loved ones to this pandemic,” he said. “It’s very, very hurtful.”
On Monday, Graham, 66, said he has mild flu-like symptoms.
“I was just informed by the House physician I have tested positive for COVID-19 even after being vaccinated,” he said in a press release.
“I started having flu-like symptoms Saturday night and went to the doctor this morning. I feel like I have a sinus infection and at present time I have mild symptoms. I will be quarantining for 10 days,” he said.
“I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now. My symptoms would be far worse,” Graham added.
Breakthrough infections among vaccinated people have DC on edge as the Delta variant fuels an uptick in national COVID-19 cases, although serious cases and hospitalizations among the vaccinated have been rare.
