Former Trump adviser Roger Stone’s invitation to speak at a Florida GOP group’s annual dinner has been rescinded after he made controversial remarks about former first lady Barbara Bush, who died earlier this week.
The Okaloosa Republican Executive Committee uninvited the controversial political strategist from its May 12 Lincoln Reagan Day Dinner. Stone was set to give the keynote address.
“It’s tough to lose a speaker when you’re three weeks out, but this is what I felt needed to be done out of respect for Barbara Bush,” committee chairman Mark Franks told local media. “I thought he’d be entertaining but for me this went over the line.”
Stone pushed back on that narrative, saying he was the one who pulled out of the event.
“I cancelled my appearance as the sponsors wanted to censor my public comments, which is unacceptable,” he told the Northwest Florida Daily News.
“The day that some officious country club Republican in Fort Walton Beach tells me what I can and cannot say in public will be the day that hell freezes over,” he added.
Stone called Bush a “nasty drunk” after the 92-year-old died Tuesday from health issues.
“She is descending into hell right now. She’s not going to heaven. She was a bad person,” he told the conspiracy-peddling website InfoWars.com.
