“A for effort”
Those three words posted to Facebook Saturday evening by Upper Darby Councilwoman Jess Branas brought a strong reaction. They were reposted to X and picked up by Libs of TikTok and other outlets.
The post came just after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at his rally in western Pennsylvania. A 50-year-old man lost his life in the shooting. Two other people were injured. Trump escaped with a graze wound to his ear.
Branas had worked for state Rep. Heather Boyd (D-Upper Darby). Neither Boyd nor the spokeswoman for the House Democrats could be reached for comment on Sunday. But Boyd’s X account said she had “swiftly” dealt with the problem. Branas was fired over the post.
A Facebook post from the Delco GOP called on Branas to resign.
Jeff Jones, who is Boyd’s Republican opponent, called the post “distasteful, disgusting, and completely unacceptable.”
“I think it does expose the larger issue of just poor judgment on the Democrats’ part,” said Jones. “I don’t want to make it political, but it shows a pattern of behavior, of poor judgment. There have been other incidents that (the DVJournal) reported on. The people of the 163rd District deserve better.”
Boyd was elected last year after former Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel stepped down due to a sex scandal.
He saw on X that House Democrats “released her from her employment.”
Jones said he had just been listening to comments from Gov. Josh Shapiro about the gentleman who died.
“And about all people having the right to peacefully assemble and go to events that they’re interested in going to and feel safe in that environment,” said Jones. “Whatever the environment may be. And here’s a man who went to hear former President Trump speak. You have to presume he was a supporter, and his life was taken away from him. People were injured. And in the bigger picture, I don’t know the exact number of people who were there, but all of those people were thrust into harm’s way. For what?”
“I’m reminded of something that Martin Luther King said after the assignation of Malcolm X, ‘We are still in a society where,’ and I’m paraphrasing, ‘we disagreed. We can disagree without being violently disagreeable.’ And you know, somethings got to change.”
“I’m pleased to hear both the Trump team and the Biden administration are talking about bringing the temperature down,” added Jones.
Not so fast, said Branas.
Branas explained she posted “A for effort” about a New York strip steak she’d burned on the barbecue.
“I do know a lot of people are angry,” said Branas, who said she’d been on vacation, had taken a break from watching the news and had no idea about the attempted assassination and that someone had died at a Trump rally.
Branas said she and her friends were “just enjoying ourselves,” and she had no clue about the news on Saturday evening. She said she would not make fun of such a terrible event where someone was killed.
When she looked at social media on Sunday, she wondered why people were sending her such “angry faces.” She plans to make a video for Facebook and Instagram explaining what happened.
She said she had not been informed of the House Democrats firing her.
“It’s really disheartening,” said Branas of the situation. “It’s a shame.”
She insisted the comment was not about Trump but a burned steak.
“It was not my intention at all,” said Branas. “The context is not correct. I just want to do what’s right.”
