NORFOLK, Va. — Author's note: The above video is on file from August 16, 2021.
A Republican candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates has apologized after tweeting a derogatory comment about the appearance of House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn that some Democrats said was an antisemitic attack.
Hahns Copeland is running to represent the Norfolk-based 89th District. The Washington Post reports that he tweeted a response Friday to a tweet by House Democrats that featured a video of Filler-Corn talking about a child care subsidy program.
“I was surprised to see a pair of eyes and a mouth with that NOSE,” Copeland tweeted about Filler-Corn, who is Jewish.
Copeland apologized in another tweet late Friday, calling the earlier tweet “immature and impulsive.”
He said his tweet “was never intended to be anti-Semitic or reference her ethnicity or religion.”