NJ Democrat under fire for homophobic remarks about gay mayor

A Democratic councilwoman in Trenton, N.J., is facing calls to resign after calling the city’s first openly gay mayor a “pedophile” on a conference call.

In the weekend conference call, Mayor Reed Gusciora (D) asked Councilwoman Robin Vaughn (D) about a statement she made on social media in which she accused him of supporting “do nothing nonprofit organizations.”

The exchange led to a heated back-and-forth in which Gusciora called Vaughn a “child” and an “idiot.”

In her response, Vaughn called Gusciora a “drug addict pedophile,” suggesting “the only thing [Gusciora] brought into City Hall is a bunch of young boys, and they’re sitting up there in the mayor’s suite” and suggested the mayor and Councilman Joe Harrison (D) were in a sexual relationship, according to audio obtained by the Trentonian.

Gusciora told NBC News he regretted “interacting” with Vaughn, who he said has a “history of causing disruptions.”

“Government leaders at all levels will disagree on the best course of action, and sometimes emotions can get the best of us. But Councilwoman Vaughn chose to launch into a vitriolic attack full of homophobic slurs, false accusations, and hateful comments,” Gusciora said in a statement. “The toxic and harassing language used by the Councilperson has no place even in the most heated of arguments.”

Vaughn confirmed she made the comments on Twitter but claimed her comments were taken out of context. The Trentonian included about 54 minutes of the conference call.

“Trentonians, since I don’t have the privilege of having friends who are owners and/or editors of newspapers who will only write good things about me or my side of a story, then I will request the full audio or transcript be released so you, the residents and taxpayers of Trenton, will have the full context of the conference call,” Vaughn wrote.

Mayor @gusciora stop talking to the newspapers and release the full tape and/or transcript. https://t.co/MqYzog1erO pic.twitter.com/D077V9z1v1

— Robin M Vaughn (@trentonwestward) May 3, 2020

Two LGBT rights groups, Garden State Equality and the Victory Fund, have called for Vaughn’s resignation over the incident, with both citing a previous incident in which she defended Council President Kathy McBride’s (D) use of the phrase “Jew her down.”