Governor Rhoden, that’s not cool. Please take the Special Olympics joke out of your talking points.

46 thoughts on “Governor Rhoden, that’s not cool. Please take the Special Olympics joke out of your talking points.”

1. Geez. I figure this is the first of many gaffes to come.

2. Larry is kind of a meandering mess.

   1. FACT: A meandering mess wouldn’t have accomplished what he has in just months of being Governor. He’s always been a productive, forward thinking, straight shooter and team player. That’s how he rolls, and will continue to do so.

      1. ALSO FACT: “I have to go convince people from Wall Street to invest in South Dakota. How can I do that in a place that changes the rules of the game after we’ve started and spent money?” – GEVO Founder Dr. Patrick Gruber

         https://www.inforum.com/opinion/columns/hennen-a-plea-to-south-dakota-on-energy-infrastructure

3. Bad form, Larry.

   1. If a person wants to offended, he/ she can always find a reason.

      1. okay larry’s team

4. That sound you hear? That’s Dusty pulling away.

   1. Ha! Hardly! Comment in poor taste? Sure. Not enough to lose 10+ points. He’s a jokster and chose the wrong words. Call him human… Better than a robot.

      1. Yes, he chose to make a joke at the expense of an entire group of people… he only corrected himself because he received backlash. I don’t walk around making jokes about entire groups of people, especially any jokes belittling people with disabilities… most people with any kind of empathy don’t. He is a public figure, and this kind of gaffe shouldn’t be happening… his truth slipped out, and he tried to cover it up with a fake apology.

         1. Ok, so YOU don’t make gaffes EVER. You’re clearly better than most because most people do make mistakes/bad jokes. I wouldn’t call that ‘his truth’. He admires the Special Olympics and I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it or not. Doesn’t matter.

            1. the fact that you don’t see what this means says enough

5. I wish they were an isolated occurrence….
   But not the first, likely not the last.

   1. certainly not the first, certainly not the last. it’s just who larry is.

6. Here’s the thing – Larry is so anti-woke and anti politically correct, he doesn’t even know that something like this isn’t acceptable. I mean Union Center is a long ways from anywhere.

   1. Having a governor who is respectful to disabled individuals is a pretty low bar yet he can’t even hit that. A great first week for his campaign.

      1. ^^ Talking shit about disable kids (especially considering your first lady’s initiative) is more than anti woke… it’s inauthentic, rude, and offensive.

7. Gov. Rhoden’s apology:

   https://x.com/larryrhodensd/status/1992726627923435590?s=46&t=Cdn-A09YHMnW93jqMbcEbw

   1. You’re a comms director Ian. Would a full sentence kill you?

      1. clearly he has his hands full with this mishandling of this situation

   2. Apologies don’t negate what a real person thinks or believes. Listen, I’ve been a Larry supporter from day one, but this, this is too far. As a grandparent of a special needs child, I’m totally embarrassed that our top official in SD would even joke about this.

      Ian, I do not expect you to understand or even care. Like I’ve said in so many of my comments here on this website; my days as a long time GOP legislator and public servant now watching our “leaders”, im sick to my stomach.

      South Dakota is better than Larry at this point. South Dakota deserves better than Larry at this point.

      I served with Larry, and considered him a great friend when we were in leadership together. Today, I do not consider him anything more than a politician using his position to poke fun at our most vulnerable and thinking a twitter apology is enough. My grandkid who is special needs, doesn’t deserve Larry as Governor; and neither does South Dakota.

      Shame on you Ian, and shame on Larry. I was going to fully and publicly support Larry for Governor, not anymore. When you make jokes about my family, you’ve lost all my respect and support.

8. Nice try Dusty and friends. He in no way was being critical of those with special needs and you know it. You don’t think he has close friends or family with special needs? Seriously, stop wasting our time by trying to make a big deal out of this. Could he have chosen his words better after a long day and the 2nd town hall meeting that day? Sure. But, there’s more important issues to deal with than a slip of the tongue that has no basis.

   1. I’ll expect this in future defense of Larry missteps.

   2. The Governor and should act like the Governor. Is he up for the job?

      He messes up his words more than most. Spend some time with him and you will understand.

9. I respect that Larry just came out and said that it was a stupid thing to say.

10. Rhoden is a good man, don’t let the ranchy comments fool you.

    1. Yeah right! Larry tell us how you really feel? How about other populations within the state?

11. It’s just locker room talk.

12. Glad to see Larry cowboy up and take responsibility for this.

13. I’m glad that he apologized for the mistake, but doesn’t the average person out there know better than to say something that witless?

    1. Yes, unless we’re talking about the average politician in SD. That’s an obvious no.

    2. exactly

14. This is another example of what happens when a state has a completely broken political system.

15. I’m a Democrat that served in the legislature for 18 years, some of those years with Larry. Although I did not always agree with Larry he was always respectful. Yes he made a gaff in his comments, but as usual he apologized for it. It takes a big person in more ways than one to apologize.

    Where is the criticism of Trump when he does it on nearly a daily basis, purposely? He never apologizes, but rather makes childish excuses, while MAGA and the radicals support him. It takes a big person to apologize rather than to make excuses. That is why I support and respect Larry. His apologizes are meaningful and sincere.

16. Special Olympics is one of those charities hitting people up for money (think almost $5 million in revenue in SD) for events staffed by volunteers.
    Nothing wrong with a bunch of families getting together with others who have family members with special needs, to have picnics and play games together, but what do they need all that money for? Homeschool families do the same thing, get together for picnics and games, yet they aren’t hitting other people up for money.

    1. You’re kidding, right? They do far more than “have picnics and play games together.” Ball fields, bowling alleys, arenas, swimming facilities, etc often have to be rented or have fees involved their use. It costs no less than any other sports league. Plus, there are administrative costs, insurance before even free fields are allowed for use, equipment – again, no less than any youth or adult sports leagues. And they do it on a statewide basis.

       Fees also go to offset expenses for Special Olympians, who are allowed to participate at no cost, because many exist in poverty. Those who have jobs are often employed at sub-minimum wages, if they are able to get jobs, because many businesses won’t hire the disabled.

       Funds are raised from private donations, corporate contributions, and grants, so no one has any reason to complain about taxpayer dollars.

       1. You said it all, thanks.

17. Isn’t this kind of “on par” with the political base he’s chasing? They want to kill cancel culture because they want to be able to say things like this with no consequences. Reality is to be considerate of people; we would need to be considerate of all people. So some people can be offended by the use of the Special Olympics as a joke, just like some can be regarding their race, sexual orientation, or even looks. If you feel this is wrong, that is a unique feeling, hold on to it and know others feel things are wrong, just like this, but on a different subject. It isn’t a bad thing to try not to make people feel like this, regardless of our state of politics. Nobody is forcing you to do anything or believe anything, just say okay, your name isn’t pronounced Geoff it’s Jeff, fine. You don’t even have to be friends with the person, just be a good person yourself.

18. that’s enough, congress isn’t doing anything right now anyway so bring rounds home and let him be governor for as long as he feels like he wants to do it. please.

19. Guys, the Gov noted it wasn’t the thing to say, and I had a conversation with him about it.

    Larry is a good guy. Just chalk it up as a misstep, and give a little grace for doing the right thing.

    1. I thought we should be elevating our best and brightest to the governor’s mansion, not some mediocre dei-hire whose only purpose on the ticket was to give the previous floozy some veneer of credibly with the west river ranching community.

       Some of us expect a high standard of our elected officials, not constant excuses for repeated incompetence.

       1. Prim n proper little pencilnecks preparing speeches in the mirror is what you want? Move to DC.
          Until then, welcome to South Dakota. We elect real people.

          1. Do you really think that poorly of South Dakotans? Poor manners, standards with low expectations? Real people don’t make comments like that regardless of their occupation or where they live in South Dakota. Quit making excuses!

             1. Compared to what libs have openly stated/posted, the comment by Gov Rhoden is minor.

20. Governor Rhoden pushed to get a very qualified quadraplegic on the brand board after the ag committee voted him down. Where was the coverage of that?

21. Yeah! Freedom of Speech! People should be able to say whatever they want and if they offend anyone it is woke right? MAGA!

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