Former Nebraska GOP Staffer Under Fire for Racist Remarks

A former Nebraska Republican Party intern who worked as a paid campaign staffer for Gov. Pete Ricketts is apologizing for anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs he made online and statements advocating for violence against gay-rights parades, black activists and journalists.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that 22-year-old Bennett Bressman confirmed Monday the anonymous chatroom postings were his.

Bressman faced sharp criticism after the postings were published online by members of an activist group.

Ricketts says he was "shocked and horrified" by the statements. Bressman was a volunteer who later spent seven months as a paid field director for the governor's 2018 re-election campaign.

The Nebraska GOP says Bressman would have been fired immediately had officials known about his comments and pledged to examine its pre-employment screening practices.