- Dave Roetman resigned seven days after starting as director
- The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead exposed his offensive social media posts
- Roetman commented on women’s bodies and told black people to leave the US
The executive director of the North Dakota Republican Party has resigned less than two weeks after taking the job when his past social media posts were revealed, including apparent racist comments.
Dave Roetman resigned just ten days after being hired Fargo-Moorhead Forum published an article revealing tweets from the executive director that commented on women’s bodies and encouraged black people to leave the country.
Roetman took the job Oct. 20 after former director Samantha Holly resigned in September, citing in her resignation letter “several obstacles that have made it difficult for me to continue working here.”
His posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, date from over a year ago to this month, on topics ranging from political issues to crude comments.
In response to a post from a woman asking for relationship advice, he said: “Here’s a quarter, stay between your knees.”
Dave Roetman resigned just ten days after being hired as executive director of the North Dakota Republican Party when a local newspaper surfaced his offensive social media posts
He said “she seems nice” on several posts of women in revealing clothing. On a post about a woman who lets her boyfriend touch her breast when he’s in a bad mood, Roetman replied with a gif of a man saying “Yes!” called out.
The former executive director of the Republican Party responded to a video of a plus-size woman sharing what she eats in a day: “That’s a shame. She could be attractive.”
Roetman also posted several bigoted comments about race in America.
On a post saying black people made Wakanda, white people made Chicago, where would you rather live, Roetman said, “She should move to Wakanda.” Wakanda is a fictional setting for the Black Panther films.
Responding to a post about black people leaving the country, he replied with a meme that read, “Well… bye.”
In a post about a black reporter who left a music festival after a man called her a racist word, Roetman responded, “Narcissist?”
After his offensive tweets were reported, he started sharing memes about “being canceled.”
One message he shared read: ‘Can someone tell me what’s offensive today? It’s hard to keep up!’
Roetman told InForum when they first published the story: “I am a man who sticks to his words.”
In a press release from the North Dakota Republican Party shared with the newspaper, Roetman said in his resignation, “I believe the best path forward for the NDGOP is for me to take a different path.”
According to the Associated Press, Sandi Sanford, chairwoman of the North Dakota Republican Party, said she was “very disappointed” by Roetman’s posts.
She said the search committee “looked at everything” and that the disparaging messages were “kind of buried.”
Sanford said Roetman resigned after they discussed his posts following the Forum article.
“This is your content,” Sanford told Roetman. “You’re an adult, you’ll have to deal with it.”