Dori: How dare Jay Inslee Tweet during Deputy Ryan Thompson’s funeral?

Mar 30, 2019, 6:05 AM

(AP)

KIRO Newsradio Host

We found out Thursday afternoon that Governor Jay Inslee was specifically dis-invited to the memorial for Kittitas County Deputy Ryan Thompson.

As I said last week, when this cop was killed by an illegal immigrant, Jay Inslee had to accept some responsibility. He has declared many times that Washington is a sanctuary state. He encourages as many illegal immigrants as possible to come into our state. And so, when an illegal immigrant kills a cop — as has happened multiple times here in Washington — he has to take ownership of the consequences of his policy.

I am now assuming that Deputy Thompson’s family feels the same way, and that for that reason, they asked the governor not to attend the funeral. I can think of no other reason why they would have asked him not to come.

After I talked about this on-air, a listener who was at the memorial reached out to me on Twitter and wrote this.

I sat next to a mom of a deputy at today’s service. Jay Inslee was Tweeting in the middle of the service. To see the pain in my son’s eyes, the pain in all the officers’ eyes, and the pain in the eyes of Ryan Thompson’s family, was absolutely heartbreaking.

I couldn’t just take that at face value. I thought that seemed impossible. There’s no way he would be campaign-Tweeting right as the memorial service was getting going. I would think he would pause his presidential aspirations for 90 minutes as Ryan Thompson’s family, friends, and colleagues were honoring him and laying him to rest. Surely Jay Inslee would respect that.

I went to Jay Inslee’s Twitter account. The memorial service started at 2 p.m. At 2:24 p.m., he sent the following Tweet.

6 years ago today, I laid out budget priorities that expanded Medicaid for families across WA State. It’s unconscionable that Trump now wants to take that coverage away today.https://t.co/J2YCDlXQDE

— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) March 28, 2019

I couldn’t believe my eyes. As Ryan Thompson was being laid to rest, Jay Inslee was Tweeting for his desperate presidential campaign.

After I commented on this on Twitter, the mom who had reached out to me sent me another Tweet.

It was horrible and heartbreaking. It made a sad day more sad. Both of our sons had been on calls with Deputy Ryan Thompson. He was a great guy.

I know that politics tends to remove the humanity from people. But, as big a critic as I’ve been of Jay Inslee and of his politics, his lying about taxes, his presidential campaign — in which he polls at less than a percent — that is costing our tax dollars as State Patrol troopers fly around the country on the campaign trail to protect him, I couldn’t believe this latest one.

This was a tone-deaf, callous new low he sank to that I found just sickening. You know me — usually I’m in a rage over a story like this. But I’m not furious. I’m sick and I’m sad. I’m depressed that this guy is our governor. I’m heartbroken that his presidential aspirations were more important than respect for a fallen cop in his state, and that he would campaign-Tweet just 24 minutes after the memorial service started.

Everything that day should have been focused, like a laser beam, on honoring the fallen trooper. And I found Inslee’s self-serving behavior sickening.

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