Americans for Tax Reform’s tax-policy director, Ryan Ellis, didn’t mince his words when he called tea-party activists “freaking retarded” in a tweet on Wednesday night:
@freddoso I’ve gotta tell you, man, I’m starting to think these tea party activists are freaking retarded
— Ryan Ellis (@RyanLEllis) October 24, 2013
Ellis took issue with “defunders” because he claimed that they had convinced members of the Tea Party that a government shutdown would have defunded Obamacare. Earlier in the evening, he also called Ted Cruz “a despicable man who lies to good people.”
@brianjameswalsh @philipaklein I think I know how everyone must have felt about Aaron Burr. Cruz is a despicable man who lies to good people
— Ryan Ellis (@RyanLEllis) October 24, 2013
Ellis brushed off initial backlash to the comments.
Lesson from Twitter tonight: say anything negative about Rafael Eduardo Cruz, be prepared for derp. Lots and lots of derp.
— Ryan Ellis (@RyanLEllis) October 24, 2013
@ZacharyGraves i get bored easily.
— Ryan Ellis (@RyanLEllis) October 24, 2013
The Madison Project PAC, a grassroots network of conservatives, criticized Ellis for his comments, saying it reflected “what’s wrong with the K Street Republicans in Washington, DC.”
“Instead of fighting for hard-working families that struggle every day to make ends meet, they choose to attack them,” the group’s political director said in a statement. The Madison Project has called on Americans for Tax Reform to apologize.
UPDATE: Ellis apologized for his previous tweet, saying that he should not have chosen the word “retarded”:
As someone with a Down Syndrome first cousin, I should not have used the word “retarded” in any context. It was a throwaway heated term.
— Ryan Ellis (@RyanLEllis) October 24, 2013