KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knoxville City Council candidate said he could not recall whether he used offensive, aggressive, and threatening language in years-old social media screenshots shared with WBIR by the Knox County Democratic Party.
Nick Ciparro, a candidate for District 3, said the posts could be fake, but some used language that “sounds like something I would say.”
In a statement released from the KCDP, the Party denied photoshopping the images.
In one screenshot sent to WBIR by the Vice-President of the Democratic group, Ciparro used an offensive slur toward people with mental disabilities while responding to a CBS News article about a teacher who was fired for a tweet.
Ciparro said the slur is “not normally” a word he uses, but added, “we’re all adults here.” He said the concern over the post was making a “mountain out of a molehill.”
Ciparro said his Facebook page is meant for friends and family.
“I’ve used adult language on my Facebook page because adults visit it,” he said.
When asked about whether the slur he used was offensive, Ciparro also responded by saying, "It's a medical term, isn't it?"
In other screenshots, he called Democrats "the enemy of the people" and said that "liberals have a mental disorder."
He also calls the Democratic National Convention and the Obama administration "terrorist organizations" in the screenshots. The KCDP also shared a social media post in which he advocated the mass suicide of a group in a video.
Most of the posts in the screenshots are from 2016 and 2017. Ciparro said that he could not recall if the posts were authentic.
WBIR could not independently verify their authenticity, since Ciparro's personal social media page where they were allegedly posted is set to private.
He also reiterated some of the posts to WBIR, standing by them. Referring to a post in which he claims liberals have a mental disorder, he said the language does sound like him.
"Liberals do have a mental disorder," he said in response to a question asked by reporters.
He further said that he did not believe his attitude towards people with left-leaning political beliefs would impede his ability to effectively govern. He expected the new members to work with him on his agenda.
"We're going to flip it [the city council]," he said. "There will be five new members."
When asked about whether the slur he used was offensive, Ciparro also responded by saying, "It's a medical term, isn't it?"
District 3 is in the northwest section of Knoxville. He is challenging Seema Singh after he said on WBIR's political and public affairs program Inside Tennessee his constituency asked him to run against her.
"Basically, people came after me and said, 'Hey, we know you've run before. Why don't you run for city council, and this time win?'" he said earlier on Inside Tennessee.
On his website, Ciparro said he would place public safety as a top priority and support job creation by helping businesses expand in Knoxville. He also said that he would prioritize city spending on essential needs. Information about how he would specifically spend city funds was not immediately available.
The KCDP responded to Ciparro's comments in a release, denying accusations of photoshopping as well as asking an apology from Ciparro and the Knox County GOP:
"He [Nick Ciparro] both accuses us of photoshopping the images (it goes without saying that we did not) and says "it sounds like something I would say". Anyone who uses a slur, refers to people with different political opinions as having mental disorders, calls the DNC and Obama administration terrorists, and advocates for mass suicide should not have a seat on our great city's City Council.
We still believe an apology is in order as well as an explanation from the Knox County GOP, who has officially endorsed Nick, and his fellow “conservative candidates” on why they find this language acceptable."