A Florida congressman facing a tough re-election battle has been forced to apologize after joking about rape and sex with 15-year-old girl...
A Florida congressman facing a tough re-election battle has been forced to apologize after joking about rape and sex with 15-year-old girls in old Facebook comments.
Brian Mast, a 40-year-old Army veteran and double amputee, made the remarks to a friend, Rocco LeDonni, who is now his campaign manager.
The Republican currently represents one of South Florida's most competitive swing districts, and is battling against Democratic challenger Pam Keith to keep his seat.
He apologized for the remarks on Tuesday.
Brian Mast, a Florida congressman, made jokes about rape and sex with children on Facebook
The comment, made in 2009 on his campaign manager's photo, has now been deleted
Michigan-born Mast, who was elected in 2016, served in the Army from 2000 to 2010, when he was injured by an IED in Afghanistan, losing both his legs.
He made the offensive comments in 2009 and in 2011.
In February 2009, LeDonni posted a photo of his vacation to South Africa.
Mast commented: 'im so proud of you... i hope you hook up with at least fifteen 15 year olds over there.... its legel there right.'
Two years later, LeDonni asked in a May 20, 2011, post: 'Anyone have any good pick up lines for this weekend considering according to the crazy christian radio guy the world may end on sunday?'
Mast, by then convalescing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, responded: 'How about don't turn this rape into a murder.'
Mast has been seen as a rising star in the Republican party.
Mast served in Iraq and Afghanistan, having joined the Army straight out of college in 2000
Mast lost both his legs during an IED explosion in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, in 2010
Mast, a strong supporter of the president, is pictured with Donald Trump on Air Force One
The congressman, who lives in Palm City, Florida, with his wife Brianna and their four children - Madalyn, Maverick, Magnum, and Major - was a vocal supporter of Donald Trump.
LeDonni has been a senior campaign adviser and political consultant for Mast since he first was elected in 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile.
In May 2018, the Associated Press reported that Mast was under consideration by the Trump administration to become the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
He has often voted in favor of Trump's agenda in Congress, but he broke ranks with the GOP when he supported gun control measures after the Feb. 14, 2018, Parkland school shooting that left 17 students and staff dead.
Mast beat Democrat Randy Perkins in 2016 with 53 per cent of the vote and won another close victory over Lauren Baer in 2018 with 54 per cent of the vote.
In a statement on Tuesday, after he was contacted by the Sun Sentinel, Mast apologized for the posts.
'A decade ago when I was in the Army, and following my injury, I made disgusting and inappropriate jokes that I am embarrassed to have associated with my name today,' he said.
'I am sorry about that part of who I was, and I strive every day to be a better example for my kids.'
The posts were taken from LeDonni's Facebook page after the newspaper contacted Mast.
Pam Keith, a former Navy officer, is challenging Mast for his Congressional seat in November
His Democratic rival, Pam Keith, a former Navy JAG officer, condemned the posts in a statement.
'This is disgusting, unacceptable and dishonorable behavior for any man, let alone a sitting member of Congress,' Keith said.
'Rape, violence and intimidation of women and children are not Brian Mast's punchline — his words are an insult and betrayal to the women he claims to represent.'
Keith herself has not held back on social media.
In March 2020, Keith responded to a comment that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden might have raped someone.
'That means he still has LOTS of rape to do to catch up to Trump. Also .... I highly doubt that's true,' she wrote.
Mast replied: 'Pam Keith just doubled down on her abhorrent comments trivializing rape, saying she was just trying to be "snarky." There is no room for joking about sexual violence!'
Bizarrely both Mast and Keith have made inappropriate jokes about rape
Mast and Keith have been vigorously attacking each other in the run up to November's vote.
'If you are a Republican, Pam Keith believes that automatically makes you a white supremacist,' he tweeted on Monday.
'Does anybody honestly believe that as a Member of Congress she would be willing to help somebody who she hates with every fiber of her being?'
Keith, in turn, said that Mast was 'on the side that is BREAKING America'.
Keith, Mast's Democrat rival, has been attacking her opponent on Twitter
Mast has also used social media to fight his rival online, painting her as an extreme Leftist
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