Florida Democrats have asked a candidate for the state House of Representatives to corroborate her claims that she worked as a physician who treated victims of the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
Elizabeth McCarthy, 50, announced her candidacy in March along with a harrowing tale of working at the Orlando Regional Medical Center on the night of the Pulse shooting that claimed the lives of 49 people and wounded another 53. She described removing 77 bullets from victims that were laid out in the hospital like “an assembly line.”
Attempts to verify her claims by media, however, returned no evidence that McCarthy had worked at that medical center the night of the shooting or at any other point. Further research was unable to verify McCarthy’s claims that she held a degree from or even attended the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine. There was also no verifiable evidence that McCarthy had ever worked as a doctor or that she held a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University, as she had claimed.
Following an attempt to verify her credentials by Florida Politics, McCarthy initially claimed that she would be withdrawing from the race, and refunding the $1,506 in campaign contributions she had raised thus far. However, just two days later, McCarthy called the media’s attempt to confirm her past as a “campaign smear,” and vowed to go forward with her candidacy. In a 800 plus word Facebook post, McCarthy seemed to acknowledge that her initial story was less than truthful but suggested that she had attended an unnamed college, worked for a time as a nurse and lifeguard, and had survived ovarian cancer.
She said of the controversy, in part, “I did think about shutting down my campaign after this attack I was not ready for. I am not going to do that,” McCarthy wrote in her post. “I have a passion for legislation, apparently not up to snuff on campaigning but I am learning. I am MOVING FORWARD.”
In the wake of her continuing campaign, The Seminole County Democratic Party has vowed to withdraw any sponsorship pending further verification of her claims. Chairwoman Brittany Nethers said, “We are suspending our support until she provides transcripts, diplomas, licenses, letters from employers and proof of her involvement in the Pulse tragedy.”
McCarthy has not yet responded to the request.
