Rep. Maria Syms is calling out Rep. Jesus Rubacalva for his violent comment about what he wanted to do to Senator Debbie Lesko. In a Facebook post Rubacalva said he wanted to “punch her in the throat!”
Rubacalva made his uncivil statement after the passage of the Empowerment Scholarship Account program bill. Rubacalva is a special education teacher and a school board member. His statement shocked the collective conscious, but few republicans were willing to speak out against his bizarre comment.
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“It takes a small man to fantasize about violence against women on social media, and nothing less than zero tolerance is acceptable,” said Representative Syms. “This is not the kind of behavior toward women we should expect as a society from a man or a father, much less a school board member or an elected Representative. This issue transcends politics or party.”
“Every person in this body should stand against such statements. We have made great strides in our legislature – just this session passing the rape kit bill and the sexual assault counselor bill, and soon a victims’ rights bill. This violent statement sets us all back as a representative body and as a state, ”continued Syms.
Syms concluded, “I have this to say to Mr. Rubalcava – for myself and all the women and victims of violence: apology not accepted. Mr. Rubalcava is showing himself unfit for public office.”
Later, Rubalcava offered this apology:
“The comment I made on Facebook regarding Sen. Debbie Lesko was unacceptable. I deeply regret my poor judgement. I apologize to Sen. Lesko and to all my colleagues in both the state House and Senate. I also apologize to my constituents and assure them I have learned from this mistake.”