A video of an Indiana county council candidate’s remarks at a local forum has drawn wide attention online after she told the audience she does not talk to Republicans, said ICE is “stealing people’s jobs,” and closed her final statement to voters with the line, “We have guns too.”
The candidate, Jaime West, is running as a Democrat for Fayette County Council, District 4. The exchange took place at a candidate forum when a moderator asked what unpopular decision she might make that she believed served the county’s best interests.
West responded by turning to the camera and saying, “Firing all Republicans!” She continued: “I wouldn’t let them — I mean — I don’t even talk to them. I don’t like ’em. They voted against — their own state representative voted against her own party. I mean. What do you want me to tell you? I don’t like being around ’em.”
She went on to say, “Y’all did this to us. … You made this happen. This ICE coming into our communities, stealing people’s jobs. I mean. I’ve been threatened so many times to my face by MAGA; we’ll call them. Because there’s Republicans who actually get it. You know, there are good Republicans out there, but then there’s these MAGAs who are just racist and aren’t very intelligent at all. They call you names. The sheriff’s nephew threatened to blow my head off. But, you know, what are you going to do?”
Asked for a final message to voters, West said, “We have guns too.” The moderator then moved on to explaining how residents could vote.
West could not immediately be reached for comment, according to Fox News Digital.
It was not immediately clear which Indiana sheriff West was referencing when she described being threatened by a sheriff’s nephew. Zac Jones, the sheriff of Fayette County — the office overseeing the district where West is a candidate — disputed the claim.
“I don’t know Jaime West, and she obviously doesn’t know me. I have five nieces and zero nephews. I’m not sure what she is talking about, and I’m certain she has no idea what she is talking about either,” Jones told Fox News Digital.
Fayette County, located in east-central Indiana, is widely considered strongly Republican territory, and the District 4 council race is not viewed as competitive. The video of West’s comments circulated rapidly on social media after being posted, prompting a wave of commentary and online reaction.
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