RI Democrat Spokesman Lynch Calls on ABC6 to Rehire Costa, Fired for Volunteer Role with Trump

RI Democrat Spokesman Lynch Calls on ABC6 to Rehire Costa, Fired for Volunteer Role with Trump

Bill Lynch, former Chair of the RI Democratic Party and presently serving as a Special Advisor and often spokesperson for the State Democratic Party, is defending former Republican State Representative Doreen Costa and called on ABC6 to reconsider its decision to fire Costa as a result of her being chosen to serve as State Chair of the Trump Reelection Campaign.

GoLocal was first to report Costa's firing earlier this week.

"I have known former Representative Costa for many years, including her six years at the Statehouse as an outspoken Republican Representative of District 31. During this time, I am hard-pressed to recall any political issue on which we agreed.  However, we have always managed to disagree respectfully and although we have debated, sometimes forcefully on our opposing political beliefs and policies, our disagreements have been candid but without personal rancor," said Lynch. 

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"I was very disappointed to learn of Representative Costa's firing by ABC6 due to her decision to serve as Chair of President Trump's RI Reelection Campaign.  As I have said repeatedly, including to Representative Costa, it is my confirmed belief that President Trump is an embarrassment to our country and will be defeated at the polls if he is not impeached before then."

"However, our country and our "political system" are founded on the basic premise that people must be free to support and express themselves politically without fear of retribution or reprisal.  While Representative Costa and I may not agree on much, we do agree that people of every political persuasion should be able to practice their personal political beliefs without being punished or suffer retribution from an employer simply because of one's political beliefs or political affiliation."

"I strongly urge the management of ABC6 (WLNE) to reconsider their draconian response to Representative Costa's personal decision to exercise her American right to associate with and endorse a politician of her choosing."

As GoLocal reported:

Doreen Costa, a former Republican Rhode Island state legislator, was poised to announce on Monday that she will be one of the co-chairs of President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign in Rhode Island -- a volunteer position -- but says just hours before the announcement was made public, she was called into the general manager’s office at ABC6 and fired from her sales job at the TV station.

According to Costa, the General Manager of the station -- Tina Marie Castano -- told her she was fired due to her role with the Trump campaign.

“I was fired despite doing a great job -- I landed $100,000 in new revenue last week,” said Costa, who was hired last January.

ABC6 is owned by Standard Media Group company in Nashville, Tennessee. The company purchased ABC6 in May of this year.

Costa said that she had been told by a Standard Media executive that they did not want her to be involved with politics. “Stan [Knott, Chief Operating Officer] told me I could not work for the company and work on campaigns — even on my own time.”

An email to Standard Media’s Chief Executive Officer Deborah McDermott was not responded to.

Costa said many of the staff expressed their political views in the station. She says that Castano was regularly hyping Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

And Costa said that her direct supervisor was a very vocal progressive Democrat. “My sales manager is very political and I like him a lot,” said Costa about Bill Lancaster

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This story was first published 10/25/19 12:22 PM