To hear Beverly Burgess tell it, her teenage son was forced by a Orange County Republican committee member to get on his hands and knees to clean up a spill “like a slave” at a January meeting.
But a party investigation concluded Burgess left her son to clean up a spill she herself had made, and leaders want Burgess to apologize to her own son.
“You mean to tell me I need to apologize to my own kid? It’ll be a cold day in hell before that happens,’’ Burgess said. “I’m not going to apologize for defending my son.”
The incident over a single spilled glass of water has led Burgess, an African American precinct committeewoman, to accuse the Orange GOP of being “a Whites Only organization.” The party, in turn, has recommended her censure for “disparag[ing] this organization.”
Burgess called the investigation’s conclusions a “lynching” and said it demonstrates the lack of GOP outreach into the black community in Orange County.
Orange County GOP Chair Charles Hart vehemently denied Burgess’ accusations.
“We welcome everyone,” Hart said. “We just ask that you work with us to get Donald Trump re-elected, not work against us for your own selfish interests. We’re a big tent and very forgiving.”
Burgess alleged that at a meeting on Jan. 24 at the Marks Street Senior Center in Orlando, fellow GOP member James Ford “verbally accosted” her 15-year-old son, who has a learning disability, after Burgess unknowingly knocked over a water glass while temporarily leaving the meeting.
