An insurance agent tapped to become a regent at the University of Alaska has apologized for what critics blasted as “disgusting” social media posts, including one that implied Michelle Obama is a man and another featuring a meme of late attorney Johnnie Cochran in support of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Tammy Randolph, a 57-year-old State Farm insurance agent in North Pole, was appointed to the university’s Board of Regents by Gov. Mike Dunleavy earlier this month, but Democrats in the state are now questioning whether she’s a good fit for the 11-member body, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
“These are Facebook posts from Tammy Randolph who was appointed to the University of Alaska Board of Regents who is apparently a Q-Anon/Pizzagate conspiracy theorist, and a hyper-partisan who thinks Michelle Obama is a man, and whose threshold for sexual assault can be described by a tasteless, disgusting meme,” Alaska Democrats posted Friday regarding the posts. “Just what our university DOESN’T need. This is outrageous. Does this represent Mike Dunleavy’s values?”
One screenshot of a meme posted on Randolph’s Twitter page from Sept. 29 depicted Cochran trying to remove a black glove from his hand with text on the image reading: “If there was no sperm, you must confirm.” Above the image is a series of hashtags, including #MAGA and #ConfirmKavanaugh, along with text: “The adult in the room will get this.”
In another post from December, Randolph’s Twitter account also included a photo collage of Michelle Obama with text that read: “Just a quick reminder of how bad it was!” Randolph also implied she thought Obama is a man, writing above the image: “Well, she’s a he, so …”
Randolph, whose appointment must still be confirmed by the state legislature, has also referenced her support for “uninstalling” the so-called Deep State and her belief in QAnon, a collection of radical conspiracy theories.
Randolph could not be reached for comment early Wednesday, but she told the Anchorage Daily News in a statement Monday that she made the “personal comments without thinking” before posting them to Twitter.
“I do take full responsibility for them however,” Randolph wrote in the statement. “While the comments were made over a period of time prior to this appointment, I believe that I owe a sincere apology for the tone of my messages and the harsh language that was used. The language expressed was out of boldness and arrogance, as it never occurred to me that they would be seen in the context of a role such as a public figure.”
Randolph told the newspaper during a phone interview that she found the Cochran post amusing, but said she did not create the meme. She downplayed her Twitter activity as content that she didn’t necessarily support.
“It’s just retweeting, but it doesn’t mean that I endorse it,” she said. “I don’t have, you know, friends on Twitter … It’s not related to anything that I do. It’s just simple entertainment for me. I thought it was kind of off the grid. It’s just, you know, something to do.”
Randolph later changed her Twitter username and made her account private before deactivating it altogether, the newspaper reported. She claimed she doesn’t actually believe in QAnon, calling it “strictly entertainment” and said her post regarding Obama was not intended to offend anyone.
“I just didn’t like her fashion sense, so I was equating it to the fact, well, most guys don’t have fashion sense,” Randolph said. “That was all it was. It wasn’t meant for anybody. It wasn’t meant to offend. It wasn’t racist. It wasn’t homophobic. I’m not any of those things. It wasn’t anything other than I found it amusing. That’s all.”
“Individual regents, in their personal communications or actions, do not speak for or act on behalf of the Board of Regents or the university,” University of Alaska spokesman Robbie Graham told The Post. “For that reason, the university would not expect to comment on the personal communications or comments made by any regent.”
A message seeking comment from the Alaska Republican Party was not immediately returned Wednesday.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that Randolph initially denied making the posts when a reporter asked her about them on Jan. 22. She then blocked two accounts associated with the newspaper from viewing her account, which was deleted later that evening.
A second account, @Flowers99705, was then created by Randolph, who later deleted that as well, according to the newspaper.
John Davies, chair of the university’s board of regents, declined to comment on Randolph’s Twitter account.
“I would have no comment on a regent’s personal business,” Davies told the News-Miner. “As we were losing a great local businesswoman this month from the board, we had asked the governor to take that into account in making his appointments to our board. We were pleased that the governor appointed a businesswoman from Fairbanks to replace Jo Heckman, who was termed out after serving so well for eight years.”
