Jeb Bush’s new technology officer found himself embroiled in an online controversy Monday – with the surfacing of past tweets about “sluts,” gay men at the gym and sex with Lindsey Lohan.
By the end of the day, Ethan Czahor, the co-founder of Hipster.com, whom Time first reported had been hired by Bush’s Super PAC, Right to Rise, was forced to delete a number of missives, most of them cataloged by Buzzfeed.
A spokeswoman for Bush said the comments were deleted at the political action committee’s request.
“Governor Bush believes the comments were inappropriate,” Bush’s spokeswoman, Kristy Campbell said. But they won’t cost him the job, she said: “Ethan is a great talent in the tech world and we are very excited to have him on board the Right to Rise PAC.”
Democrats were quick to knock the hiring, saying the tweets included “misogynist views on women” and “homophobic views about the LGBT community.
“These statements don’t belong in a schoolyard screaming match, much less in our political discourse,” said Democratic National Committee Deputy National Press Secretary Rebecca Chalif. “If this is the kind of guy Jeb’s team has chosen to lead their digital outreach, it’s clear they are not ready for prime time.”
Czahor offered no apology, but tweeted that he deleted “some old jokes i made years ago that i no longer find funny or appropriate.” He closed with the hashtags: “#learning #maturing”
The flap comes as Bush is poised to deliver remarks Tuesday at Keeping the Promise: A Florida Education Summit," organized by his Foundation for Florida’s Future. He’ll also unveil a website with his emails from his time as governor, along with the first chapter of an e-book he’s writing.