The Vermont Republican Party is set to hold its annual convention this weekend. It’s drawing some controversy as one of the invited speakers is Scott Presler, a Stop the Steal and anti-Muslim activist.
The Vermont GOP holds its convention every two years. The daylong meeting includes training for newly elected party leaders and policy panels. The State Committee will also elect the party leadership team including the state chair.
The meeting also features guest speakers Grover Norquist, president of the taxpayer advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform, and former Massachusetts U.S. Senator Scott Brown. Vermont Republican Party Chair says they invited national speakers who have done work at state levels.
“What we’re trying to do is bring in experience from some of these other states and make sure that the Vermont party is continuing to grow," said Dame. "So Grover Norquist can provide some perspective on what other states are doing in terms of tax burden. We have Representative Mesha Mainor from the Georgia State Legislature and she has been one legislator in a trend of other state legislators who were elected as Democrats and recently left the Democratic Party. And Scott Brown is coming. He is still the only Republican to get elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of Massachusetts.”
But another high-profile speaker is drawing criticism from state Democrats. The Vermont Democratic Party issued a release criticizing the GOP for inviting Scott Presler to the convention. Executive Director Jim Dandeneau says Presler is the only one of the speakers the GOP invited who promoted the January 6th attacks.
“Scott Presler has his own page on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website because of his involvement in hate groups," noted Dandeneau. "He got his start organizing anti-Muslim marches that had a distressing amount of neo-Nazis and white nationalists attending them. He plays footsie with QAnon conspiracy theorists. This is not someone who has any business being celebrated by a responsible political party and this is not someone who should be welcome in Vermont. And the Republican Party is showing themselves to not be interested in being a responsible partner in government.”
The Republican announcement that Presler will attend does not mention his more controversial activities. The reason, Dame contends, is that’s not why he was invited.
“He’s coming to the event to speak primarily on volunteering, voter outreach and voter registration," Dame said. "He’s been doing work all around the country going to states like Florida, Louisiana, Virginia doing voter registration drives. And he’s become a champion of Republicans adopting early voting and absentee voting. Which I think is important for us to stay competitive. And we think that his focus on volunteerism and early voting especially for Republicans is something that the Republican Party needs to adopt. That’s what his remarks are going to be focused on and that’s the reason that he’s invited.”
The Democrats are calling on Republican Governor Phil Scott “to fix his party or own it.” Dandeneau says Scott is abdicating responsibility as the state’s highest-ranking Republican.
“He could use some of his vaunted popularity, make a few phone calls and say this kind of behavior is not acceptable from my political party," said Dandeneau. "But that’s not happening. You know there are a number of elected Republican legislators who are going to be sharing the stage with this person and they have a responsibility to not lend their good name to someone who tried to overthrow the government of the United States.”
Governor Scott told Burlington’s Fox44 News that he did not plan to attend the state convention and called the Democratic Party’s comments “ridiculous” and “ hyper-partisan.”
The Vermont Republican Party convention is on Saturday the Hilton Hotel in downtown Burlington.
