Audio: Rep. Rick Becker Responds to Meme Controversy, Calls His Critics “Hypersensitive”
Rep. Rick Becker, R-Bismarck, looks at the tally board on Tuesday during the 83-9 House vote on HB1169, a change to the North Dakota constitution allowing the carrying of a concealed firearm. Becker was a co-sponsor of the bill.
State Rep. Rick Becker was the target of criticism this weekend after posting an internet meme using the “drop the shop in the shower” joke to make a point about limited government.
Becker, though, is unapologetic and has even turned the controversy into a fundraising opportunity. He’s raised over $500 so far as of the time of this posting.
Here’s the posting if you haven’t seen it:
Many have condemned the post, with some calling for a boycott of Rep. Becker’s businesses and others calling on him to resign his elected position.
House Majority Leader Chet Pollert has also condemned the ad. “I find the post to be in very poor taste and have encouraged Representative Becker to delete it. I do not condone this type of message,” he said in a statement.
I reached Becker for an interview this evening. He said his critics “might not think it’s funny” if “they’re hypersensitive.”
“If I was of a different political persuasion the people who are screeching would be laughing,” he added. “But because of the politics of it they look for things.”
Becker said “people are reading into it what they want” and that “they’re just hysterical about it.”
He said he did speak with Rep. Pollert. “He thought it was probably not the greatest idea” to post the meme, Becker told me. He said Pollert encouraged him to take it down, but also acknowledged he couldn’t force the issue.
