A New Jersey councilwoman went off on a homophobic rant during a conference call about the coronavirus, accusing Trenton’s first openly gay mayor of being a “woman” and a “pedophile,” according to reports.
Trenton Councilwoman Robin Vaughn, who represents the city’s West Ward, lashed out against Mayor Reed Gusciora in a minutes-long, expletive-laced diatribe during a Saturday conference call with fellow lawmakers, according to audio obtained by NJ.com.
During the call, Vaughn raised concerns about nonprofit organizations’ engagement with a federal grant program, which prompted Gusciora to bring up accusations Vaughn had made on social media about “funding a bunch of do-nothing organizations.”
Vaughn then called Gusciora a “pedophile” and accused another lawmaker on the line of performing oral sex on him. Vaughn also called Gusciora a “woman” and a “b-tch a–“ during the call, NJ.com reports.
“This is pretty much par for the course, unfortunately, for the councilwoman,” Gusciora told the website. “She went on a complete meltdown, a tirade.”
Gusciora accused Vaughn — who apologized in September for using the phrase “Jew her down” while referencing a city attorney — of spewing “hatred” whenever she disagrees with someone.
Vaughn’s previous conduct on the calls had led Trenton council members to stop their daily coronavirus phone conferences about three or four weeks ago. Lawmakers are now working on how they can continue them moving forward in a “productive manner,” Gusciora said.
“It has no place in public discourse,” Gusciora told the news outlet. “I think we would have learned the lesson with the ‘Jew-ing down’ comment. She has no ability to have public discourse with other governmental leaders. It got extremely personal and was completely uncalled for.”
A message seeking additional comment from Vaughn was not immediately returned early Monday. Gusciora, meanwhile, is calling on Vaughn to resign.
“The prior pass given the councilwoman for her anti-Semitic comments begs the question, ‘When is enough?'” Gusciora said in a statement to The Post. “Councilwoman Vaughn should resign for the good of the residents of Trenton. No one should be subjected to her vile and vitriolic attacks and homophobic slurs. I find them offensive and counterproductive to moving our city forward.”




