Bucks Co. GOP Denounces Congressional Candidate

The Bucks County Republican Committee has spoken out denouncing a candidate seeking to challenge U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in this year's GOP primary.

A statement from Committee Chair Pat Poprik called financial planner Andrew Meehan's candidacy "inconsistent with our shared values of individual liberty and personal freedom."

"Following the discovery of discriminatory statements made on social media and a record of deception unbecoming a candidate for federal office, the Executive Committee has found Andrew Meehan's congressional candidacy inconsistent with our shared values of individual liberty and personal freedom," Poprik said.

"As a result, the Executive Committee has voted to not include Mr. Meehan in the candidates screening before the locally elected committeepeople to seek their recommendation. The Bucks County Republican Committee will not provide a platform for such candidates to spread division within our community."

The announcement comes days after Fitzpatrick's campaign posted an unlisted video to its YouTube page attacking Meehan over a 2007 DUI arrest. Meehan has acknowledged the arrest, saying, "I greatly regret that incident and have not had any other like it before or since."

In a comment on its Facebook post, the Bucks County Republican Committee said Meehan "repeatedly lied to us about his past and was taping the meeting without our knowledge."

The committee also appears to be referencing Facebook posts like one in which Meehan says "I am one of your 'nazis' " and appears to mock "african americans that opt to stay on the government plantation where they belong."

On his website, Meehan said the comments are being taken out of context and that he was attacking the attitudes of some people on the political left.

"The problem with using these examples to attack me is the implicit assertion that the people they are intending to convince that I’m a racist or a Nazi are too stupid to understand the context in which I made them," Meehan said on his website. "Apparently, Fitzpatrick thinks his constituents are semi-literate rubes."

Meehan also took to Facebook on Thursday to respond to the executive committee's vote.

"After their worst Republican election losses in 30 years, the failing Bucks County Republican Party has 'denounced' me!" he wrote. "Just like Brian Fitzpatrick denounced President Trump during the 2016 Presidential election and refused to vote for him. I must be doing something right!"