A top Democrat running for an open congressional seat in Utah has authored a slew of offensive posts on internet forums, denigrating Mormons and making crass jokes about women and sexual assault.
Here’s just a sampling of the posts written more than a decade ago by Utah state Sen. Nate Blouin:
– Blouin recommended buying a GoPro camera “for filming porn with your underage sister.”
– Blouin repeatedly referred to people as “cunts,” used the word “retarded” and threatened to “skull fuck” someone.
– Blouin described the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints as “a bunch of bigoted assholes” with an “ideology fostering ignorance and intolerance.”
– Blouin called Mormons the worst part of living in Utah and wrote that the “LDS church is DEFINITELY just a front for the largest US drug cartel.”
– Blouin said an LDS missionary visiting his house had inadvertently seen a pornographic image he was viewing.
– Blouin also said he “took a shit in the corner of an LDS church parking lot.”
Punchbowl News has screenshots of all these comments, which have not been previously reported.
In a statement, Blouin stressed he had changed and admitted he was “horrified to see my use of language toward women and about a faith that my family, friends, and millions of Utahns practice.”
Blouin, 36, is running for a newly created blue district based in Salt Lake City.
Here’s more of his response:
“There’s no excuse for these posts — they’re vulgar, stupid, and reflect a version of me in my early twenties that I’m ashamed of and have thankfully evolved past. … I won’t minimize what I wrote, and I believe every candidate forced to look at their old online activity should take full accountability for the person they once were behind their computer screen. To the people I hurt with my words, I sincerely apologize.”
The posts were written between 2009 and 2015 on Reddit; Teton Gravity Research forum, a media company focused on outdoor sports; LetsRun.com, a track forum; and NewSchoolers.com, a ski forum. Blouin is an avid skier and New Hampshire native who moved to Utah in 2009. Blouin has said he worked odd jobs in customer service and skied frequently during that time.
A lot at stake. The shocking comments could prove a serious liability for Blouin in a district with a sizable population of Mormons. Residents in the area continue to grapple with tensions caused by transplants to the state who come for outdoor recreation but are not deeply religious.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC have endorsed Blouin, as have Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and CPC Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas).
Former Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams is Blouin’s main competition for the seat. McAdams is a more moderate Democrat and Blouin is running to McAdams’ left.
This isn’t the first time this cycle that Sanders and other top progressives have backed a candidate with a controversial past online presence. Maine Senate Democratic candidate Graham Platner apologized for offensive Reddit posts he made, including ones minimizing rape.
Blouin made a post praising a comedian who joked about a domestic violence incident between the artists Chris Brown and Rihanna. Blouin wrote the comedian “hit the nail on the head. pun intended.”
When a student athlete at Brigham Young University was charged with sexual battery, Blouin made light of the assault on LetsRun.com, writing: “good ol’ mormon kid. had to let out the pent up sexual frustration somehow.”
On that same thread, Blouin also lamented that people are “are too damn sensitive” and that “slapping girl’s asses as you run by … shouldn’t land you in jail or anything by any means.”
