Tory candidate in Welsh election issues meagre apology after ‘disgusting’ homophobic tweets resurface
The resurfaced tweets showed that Samuel Kurtz used the word “gay” as an insult, used the hashtag “no homo”.(Councillor Samuel Kurtz/ Facebook)
Welsh Conservative Senedd (Welsh parliament) candidate Samuel Kurtz has issued a meagre apology after homophobic and misogynistic tweets resurfaced.
Kurtz was announced as a Welsh Conservatives Senedd candidate for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire on Monday (30 November).
He will defend a Tory majority of 3,373 votes in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire next May in the 2021 Senedd elections.
But as he celebrated the news, he was also facing backlash for comments he made on Twitter in 2012 and 2013.
One Twitter user wrote: “Congratulations on not being bright enough to delete your old homophobic and misogynistic tweets.”
https://twitter.com/ohdylo/status/1333751832397697024
The resurfaced tweets showed that Kurtz had used the word “gay” as an insult, used the hashtag “no homo”, said he wouldn’t date a woman who was bisexual and made sexist comments about women.
Screenshots of the tweets were published by the blog Bubble Wales in response to a Welsh Conservatives tweet congratulating Kurtz.
In one, he wrote: “She’s bisexual and looks like s**t off a shoe #IWouldn’t.”
Responding to a tweet which asked what he would do if another man “slapped” his girlfriend on the backside, Kurtz wrote: “‘Shake his hand and congratulate him on having fantastic taste in women.”
https://twitter.com/bubblewales/status/1333436586600636417
Twitter users described his comments as “honestly disgusting”, and one wrote: “The Welsh Tories sure know how to pick em don’t they?”
When asked by ITV if he would like to make a statement on his previous comments, Kurtz said: “These tweets were made many years ago, when I was a teenage university student.
“I have done a lot of growing up since then and they do not represent me, or my views. I do however apologise for any offence they may have caused.”
A Welsh Conservative spokesperson added: “These tweets date back a number of years. However, that does not make them acceptable, and Sam has apologised.”
Samuel Kurtz has now deleted the tweets.
