Newtown Politician to Gabby Giffords: ‘Stay Out of My Towns!!’ [Updated]

Connecticut legislator DebraLee Hovey, a six-term Republican state representative for the towns of Monroe and Newtown, had some candid, if ill-advised words for Gabrielle Giffords, who visited with victims of the Sandy Hook shooting on Friday. “Gabby Gifford [sic] stay out of my towns!!” Hovey wrote on her then-public Facebook, via mobile from Saint Pete Beach, Florida. “It was political,” she elaborated in the comments, according to cringey screenshots obtained by the Hartford Courant.

“The Lt Gov was there […] and ALL political types KNOW it is courteous to let sitting Reps known when another political [sic] is in their District,” Hovey went on. “So……. There was pure political motives.” (The visit, while “low-key” and without press, was reported in advance.)

Hovey’s spokesman Jamison Bazinet confirmed to Intelligencer that the statuses were indeed legitimate and have since been deleted. Hovey’s profile has also been switched to private, he said. Bazinet would not comment on why the update was removed, but said Representative Hovey expects to release a statement on the matter this afternoon.

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The apology in the update is of the ‘if I offended anyone’ variety.