Photos for Headline Surfer / Above, Port Orange Councilman Chase Tramont is shown pointing. Next to him are Fred Costello far left, former state representative, and in the middle is Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry. Editor's Note: State Rep. Thomas Leek, R-Ormond Beach, who repeated Chase Tramont's message on Monday morning, was added to this story. It's too late to change the headline since the story has already been trending online.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Chase Tramont, a Spruce Creek High School teacher and family man, who came onto the political scene last year and overwhelmingly won a municipal seat in Port Orange with his down-to-earth guy next door campaign style, took local social media by storm over the weekend with a no-holds-barred Facebook tongue-lashing of the white supremacists whose Charlottesville, Va., street clashes turned deadly.
For it was one of their own who used his car as a battering ram plowing into a group of anti-hate protestors that resulted in a woman being killed along with bone-crunching injuries to others.
The normally mild-mannered city councilman took a page out of acerbic Sheriff Mike Chitwood's vocal violent playbook, with his signature "scumbags" right off the bat, with garden variety staples "losers" and "morons" peppered in his rant.
"As an elected official I would like to publicly condemn these 'white nationalist' losers!,"Tramont wrote. "These scumbags do not represent the values of our country. I do not want nor would I accept the support from groups such as these in my current position or any future elections. And as a Christian and a conservative Republican, I vehemently reject any notion that these pathetic morons represent our party. They do not represent the Republican party. They do not represent Biblical Christianity. They do not represent true American values. May God bless the victims and families impacted by this terrorist hate group.
And while Tramont is in his infancy politically, he quickly came of age, citing the party and ideology of Ronald Reagan and religious redundancy of redundancy of "Biblical Christianity."
And this rallying cry led to two of Volusia County's far-more seasoned politicians with a need to be noticed jumping on the bandwagon political pulpit. But there was no way they could come up with anything more clever to top Tramont's over-the-top smackdown so they fell in line, giving him the alpha dog props while they assumed supporting team player roles.
Chase Tramont's Facebook message was posted before the vile incident where a man in a car plowed into other cars, causing a chain reaction that injured scores of protestors killing a woman.
First up was Congressional wannabe Fred Costello, whose daily postings on Facebook are like that of the housefly whose zig zags aren't yet strong enough to roll up the newspaper for the lethal strike.
Costello, who is chomping at the bit for a second Congressional run, banking on incumbent Ron DeSantis shooting for the governor's mansion, quickly jumped on Tramont's social media bandwagon Saturday night,saying he was in the process of "preparing to post my condemnation regarding the tragic terrorist events in Charlottesville, when I saw my friend (and Port Orange Councilman and Spruce Creek teacher and basketball coach) Chase Tramont's post. He said it so well I am quoting him."
Costello then did just that, repeating Tramont's post word for word.
It didn't take long for the next big-name politician to weigh in, again like Costello, announcing his remarks were purely supplementary to Tramont's, as he weighed in on his own Facebook page, stating, "I am joining my friend Fred Costello and refraining from making remarks about the tragedy on yesterday. Instead, I will share the post from my fellow elected official and personal friend, Justin Chase Tramont."
Henry, the liberal Democrat, cut from the same cloth as Bill and Hillary Clinton, then proceeded to wax philosophical with, "while we share differing political affiliations we have common faith in the transformational and redemptive power of the Cross. Please hear (Tramont's) most appropriate words and join us in condemning that which we all know is an affront to our values."
For Henry, smarting from criticism earlier this week of his hiring as an assistant principal for the Holly Hill Middle School, amid past campaign and certification controversies, the mayor's plea to hear his municipal colleague's "most appropriate words" opened the floodgates of name calling regurgitation.
Deborah Jarnagin Strickland, wife of Ken Strickland, one of four challengers who could not keep the incumbent from winning re-election outright in the August primary, for a second four-year term, repeated the name calling buzz words of Tramont.They are indeed scumbag losers," she wrote on Mayor's Henry's string. "And they transmit their hate to their children which is entirely reprehensible. Now one of their ilk has committed murder of an innocent young lady who bravely took a stand against their evil ways. God save us from the worst of humanity and lead us to peace and love for one another."
For Henry, smarting from criticism earlier this week of his hiring as an assistant principal for the Holly Hill Middle School, amid past campaign and certification controversies, the mayor's plea to hear his municipal colleague's "most appropriate words" opened the floodgates of name calling regurgitation.
Deborah Jarnagin Strickland, wife of Ken Strickland, one of four challengers who could not keep the incumbent from winning re-election outright in the August primary, for a second four-year term, repeated the name calling buzz words of Tramont.They are indeed scumbag losers," she wrote on Mayor's Henry's string. "And they transmit their hate to their children which is entirely reprehensible. Now one of their ilk has committed murder of an innocent young lady who bravely took a stand against their evil ways. God save us from the worst of humanity and lead us to peace and love for one another."
State Rep. Tom Leek jumps on the jumpsTramont bandwagon
And yet another politician hopped aboard Chase Tramont's condemnation rant. State Rep. Topm Leek, R-Ormond Beach, wrote on his own Facebook page on this Monday morning: "Thank you Chase Tramont. Well said. It's worth repeating."
And Leekwent on to do just that: "As an elected official I would like to publicly condemn these "white nationalist" losers! These scumbags do not represent the values of our country. I do not want nor would I accept the support from groups such as these in my current position or any future elections. And as a Christian and a conservative Republican I vehemently reject any notion that these pathetic morons represent our party. They do not represent the Republican party. They do not represent Biblical Christianity. They do not represent true American values. May God bless the victims and families impacted by this terrorist hate group. Chase Tramont."
Chase Tramont's Post on Facebook
