Virginia gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase, who has described herself as “Trump in heels,” was discovered on a voicemail calling a voter a “b—-.”
The insult from the Republican state senator came at the end of the confrontational message, and she seemed to be unaware that she was still being recorded.
Audio of the message left for Diana Shores, a longtime Virginia Republican activist and party member, has since made the rounds in local Republican circles on Facebook and Twitter.
VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS FACE ANONYMOUS ATTACKS RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR
“Hey, Diana. This is Amanda Chase,” the message starts.
“I just received a phone call from a supporter of mine that was in Prince Edward County last night. She had mentioned that you had made a comment about one of my quotes on Facebook and how it was some type of New Age quote or whatever. I just want to let you know that I think it’s important if we’re going to be Christians and brothers and sisters in Christ that we talk to each other directly if you have concerns about something I’ve said, that I’ve done, that you would come to me instead of talking to a supporter about something you think that I believe. So, I want to set the record straight. No, I do not believe in anything that’s New Age. I am a Christian, conservative Republican. If you have any further questions, please feel free to give me a call back. Thanks,” she said.
After a brief pause, Chase added: “B—-.”
?From Facebook: Voicemail reportedly left by Amanda Chase urges recipient to be a sister in Christ before calling her a bitch (listen to the end). #VApolitics #VAGov pic.twitter.com/fUooBRdw7E
— Virginia Political Memes (@VApoliticalmeme) April 2, 2021
Shores, who was a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention, said that she received the message on the afternoon of March 24 after someone else at a county Republican Party meeting asked her why she was no longer supporting Chase. Mentioned in that conversation was a Facebook post from Chase in which she shared a quote that mentioned being a “soul rebel” and that with rebellious action, “love shifts the collective energy.”
Chase, 51, is one of seven candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor and has gotten national attention for her bombastic political style.
Because she refused to wear a mask while conducting state Senate business, she was required to sit in a plexiglass enclosure. Photos of her sitting in the box later spread on the internet.
A bipartisan group of state senators censured Chase earlier this year in part for saying that those who protested at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 before it was breached were “not rioters and looters. These were patriots who love their country.”
The state senator is no stranger to controversy. In 2019, she was caught berating a state Capitol Police officer after being told that she could not park in a secure area.
More recently, Chase made a long Facebook post alleging that a pastor at a conservative church declined to introduce her to the congregation and that an usher for the church told her that no firearms were allowed.
Shores said that she texted to Chase after receiving the message, letting Chase know about the profane insult at the end of the message, but never got a response.
“People can make their own decisions about Sen. Chase and how she chose to respond in her voicemail to me,” Shores told the Washington Examiner. “This is not the first time she has conducted herself in such a manner. She berates a capitol officer, attacks the [Republican Party of Virginia] for not picking a primary as a nominating method, and then smears a pastor. The conventiongoers will ultimately have to decide.”
Virginia’s Republican Party will hold an “unassembled” convention on May 8 to nominate a gubernatorial candidate for this year’s state election. Republican activists in the state have historically been averse to primaries, instead preferring to decide on a conservative candidate in a convention format and wary of Democrats infiltrating their selection process because Virginia does not have party registration for voters.
Some in Virginia have argued that a convention rather than a primary process would be the best way to ensure that Chase did not win the party’s gubernatorial nomination.
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In a radio interview on WRVA last week, Chase said that if her opponent, Pete Snyder, wins the party’s nomination at the convention, she will run as an independent for governor.
“It is Pete Snyder’s campaign that is running a rigged election,” Chase said.
Chase’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
