Republican mayor resigns over leaked sexist and racist messages

Another day in America, another scandal.

Shane Bouchard, mayor of Lewiston, Maine resigned after leaked messages purported to show racists and sexist messages.

Heather Everrly Berube, an alleged former girlfriend, leaked the messages and claims to have had an affair with the Republican, who was elected in December 2017.

As you can see from the text messages in this tweet, they're pretty heinous.

"All my jokes are quite racist," one of the texts seemingly reads from October 2017, "What do you call 2 old black people sitting on your front lawn"

The punchline?

Antique farm equipment.

Yeah, just a quick reminder that it's now 2019. To clarify, joking about the grotesque history that is the slave trade isn't funny, nor was Bouchard's next comment.

Seeming to double down on being terrible, the exchange rapidly moves on to the topic of women's weight and how a "set of 20 year old blonde twins" would make his night better.

Berube reportedly leaked more than 150 messages between her and Bouchard on 6 Wednesday.

Since the messages were leaked, Bouchard resigned on Friday after facing a great deal of backlash for his comments.

According to NEWS CENTER Maine, Bouchard will be replaced by Kristen Cloutier, who was previously the city council president.

Here's Bouchard's full resignation letter:

Thank you all for coming today. Several allegations have arisen in the last few days. Some of them very personal. It has become clear to me that the media does not acknowledge personal space and reports on nothing more than rumor in many cases.

In this political climate where the media does not discriminate between facts and rumors it is hard to be a public figure.

I am not a perfect person. I have made many mistakes in my past. I have also, in the past been the victim of some very damaging rumors.

My first concern as mayor is and has always been what is best for the city of Lewiston and her people.

Over the last few days, I have received an overwhelming amount of support from friends, family and colleagues. Most have resoundingly given me the same message. Stand and fight. I intend to do just that.

But I cannot do that effectively from the mayors seat. It is not fair to the people of Lewiston. I strongly believe that fight will be better fought as a private citizen.

I have made this decision with deep consideration as to what is also best for my business and family.

Please consider this formal notice that I am resigning from the position of Mayor.

I will work with incoming Mayor Kristen Cloutier to make sure she is up to speed on current issues and make this transition as smooth as possible.

It has been an honor to serve the people of Lewiston. I look forward to being cleared of all accusations currently being looked into jointly by Lewiston PD and the AGs office.

I thank you all for coming and based on the pending investigation I will not be commenting further today.

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