Rep. Jessica Grill, D-Manchester, is pictured testifying Monday at Rep. Corcoran’s hearing. Screenshot
By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepth NH.org
Facing possible expulsion from the House for yet another inflammatory and bigoted comment, Rep. Travis Corcoran, R-Weare, gave his familiar, if somewhat belligerent, defense on Monday before the House Legislative Administration Committee.
“I’m here today because of a joke about theater kids and politics has itself produced a full blown piece of political theater,” an unapologetic Corcoran said. “The comment was made in response to a karaoke invitation. It was a sarcastic jab at performative politics, the sort of dramatic attention seeking politics that values spectacle over substance. That point has now been proven more thoroughly than I ever could have managed on my own.”
Corcoran used his Twitter/X account to mock Rep. Jessica Grill, D-Manchester, after she sent out an open invitation for the Karaoke Caucus, a regular bipartisan gathering for lawmakers to socialize. But, as usual for Corcoran, he went beyond a sarcastic joke and made a Holocaust reference targeting Grill, who is Jewish.
“We need a final solution for theater kids in politics,” Corcoran wrote last month.
The Final Solution is the Nazi term for the extermination of all Jewish people. Nazi Germany murdered at least 6 million European Jews in the death camps during World War II. When challenged about the comment on Twitter/X, Corcoran doubled down, saying he wasn’t joking and that there really needs to be a purge to keep so-called “theater kids” from levers of power.
Corcoran told the committee he didn’t know Grill’s heritage or religion when he sent the tweets.
“I do not keep track of my colleagues’ religious backgrounds. The claim that this was targeted at her because of her background is false. Had I known, I would have chosen other words. The joke still would have been a joke, and it still probably would have offended some people,” Corcoran said.
Grill told the committee it is not credible that Corcoran was ignorant of the term, “Final Solution” when he decided to attack her for the supposed crime of inviting people to a fun night out. That he would deploy the term in a tweet to his 10,000 social media followers at a time of growing anti-Semitism is troubling, she said.
“As a Jewish lawmaker, the use of this phrase, ‘Final Solution’ is especially disturbing. It is not vague or thoughtless. It is not a poorly worded joke. It is targeted language with a specific historical meaning,” Grill said. “He knows what those words mean, and given his insistence that he wasn’t joking, I think, frankly, we have every reason to take him at his word.”
House Minority Leader Alexis Simpson, D-Exeter, told the committee that Corcoran has had every opportunity to resolve the controversy. He refused to take part in the advisory group led by House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, to address his conduct, and continues to treat members of the public disrespectfully, Simpson said.
“This demonstrates an unwillingness to change course, and suggests that without accountability, the behavior will persist,” Simpson said.
The week before Corcoran attacked Grill, he attacked Rep. Luz Bay, D-Dover, on Twitter/X, asking Trump Administration official Stephen Miller to have Bay deported. Bay is an American citizen who was born in the Philippines.
“I’d like to note that Rep. Corcoran’s account, which is verified on X, specifically identifies him as a state rep. As members of the General Court, we have a responsibility to respect one another and the people we serve in the Granite State. Equally concerning is the absence of any remorse or corrective action,” Simpson said.
Corcoran has a long history of making racist, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTQ, and violent comments on social media.
Committee Chair Gregory Hill, R-Northfield, said the committee will vote on its recommendation for Corcoran at a later executive session meeting. That recommendation will go to the House for a vote next month.