April 23, 2018
Republican Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe has brushed up his sleeves and, like the great wordsmiths before him, blessed us all with yet another online tirade against his Democratic colleagues.
Metcalfe – who, if you were wondering, is a noted not-gay person – this time has taken aim at Rep. Chris Rabb, a Democrat who represents neighborhoods in Northwest Philly. Rabb filed a letter last week with House officials stating that Metcalfe was overly threatening during a recent argument between the two politicians.
Metcalfe reacted by quickly stringing together a Facebook post light on punctuation and heavy on irreverent name-calling, labeling Rabb a “liberal loser” and Philadelphia Rep. Brian Sims, the first openly gay elected state legislator, a “lying homosexual.”
In his Facebook post, Metcalfe claimed he was the true victim in the interaction between himself and Rabb, stating, “There is a pattern to the attacks that have been made against me by liberal loser Democrat legislators on my committee.”
He goes on to say Sims is “under an ethics investigation” and that Rep. Matt Bradford is “touchy-feely” and has “touched me over 40 times in what many observers have said is an attempt to provoke me!”
Metcalfe expanded on these assertions in an interview with the Associated Press published Saturday, saying he thinks Sims’ sexuality is immoral.
Sims has since responded to Metcalfe’s outburst, first doing a “Mean Girls” inspired parody of a Burn Book that Metcalfe presumably has hidden in his closet.
My most infamously bigoted colleague, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe took to his “burn book” to attack my colleagues of color and myself call me a “lying homosexual.” I could use your help as I go up against this type of blatant homophobia and bigotry in the Capital. https://t.co/Oc7iLDN2qt pic.twitter.com/FVC4dBgbuY
— Brian Sims (@BrianSimsPA) April 20, 2018
Later, on Facebook, Sims called upon the public to help get Metcalfe removed as chair of the State Government Committee.
“Nothing quite like waking up to find out that the Associated Press picked up a story about your crazy bigoted colleague calling you a ‘lying homosexual.’ Now Kentucky, California and Virginia know.”
He goes on to say that Metcalfe is racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, and bigoted.
The initial interaction between Rabb and Metcalfe that sparked the social media war turned negative when Metcalfe allegedly told Rabb, while arguing about a redistricting bill, “we’d have a very different conversation on the street.”
“Such language is commonly used as a threat of violence. And being that it is widely rumored that Rep. Metcalfe carries a firearm on him inside of the Capitol complex, I take that thread very seriously,” Rabb wrote in a letter dated April 16.
“I wanted to appraise your office of this threat so that all possible measures can be taken to ensure my safety while in the Capitol.”
