Joe Gale Compares Himself To Trump, Denounces Impeachment Inquiry

NORRISTOWN, PA — With a resolution to begin an impeachment inquiry now in the state legislature, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale compared the blowback to his comments about Black Lives Matter to the attempts last year to impeach of President Trump, citing a "tyranny of political-correctness" behind the drive to remove both from office.

The comments came the day after hundreds gathered at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown on Monday evening to organize support for the resolution. On June 1, Gale published a letter calling Black Lives Matter a hate group that had manufactured claims of police brutality and racial injustice (read Gale's full comments here).

"Earlier this year the DC swamp worked tirelessly to remove conservative outsider Donald Trump from office," Gale said Tuesday. "So, it comes as no surprise that the Pennsylvania swamp is now doing the same thing to me. The push in Harrisburg to impeach me for speaking the truth about the recent rioting and looting in Philadelphia is an effort to punish and silence not only me, but the millions of Pennsylvanians and Americans I speak for."

State Rep. Joe Webster (D-Montgomery) introduced an initial co-sponsorship memorandum to impeach Gale on June 10. In the state Senate, Senate Resolution 334 has since been introduced, calling for a special committee to investigate whether Gale's comments violated the laws or ethics in the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Monday night's demonstration in Norristown was the second in front of the courthouse put together by PA Women Rise, a new racial justice organization created by five local women.

"Montgomery County has been known my entire life for being a racist county," Marlena Green, a Norristown native and one of the founders of the group, said in a speech during Monday's event. Green, who said she is a Republican, specifically took issue with the language Gale used to make his point, such as the phrase "urban domestic terror."

"When I broke (Gale's) statement down, what that statement meant to me, was that the black community was a domestic terror group," she said.

In the wake of the death of George Floyd, lawmakers, police chiefs, and law enforcement organizations across Montgomery County took the moment to issue statements of support for the black community.

>>9 Montco Mayors Sign Letter Condemning Commissioner Joe Gale

Officials like Gov. Wolf echoed these claims while urging protesters to "respect democracy," and many Republicans issued statements along a similar vein. But Gale did not make a distinction between the largely peaceful protests on the one hand, and the looting in parts of Philadelphia and the suburbs on the other.

>>Backlash Over Montco Commissioner's Comments On Protests

Both the Pennsylvania House and Senate are controlled by Republicans, so Democrats seeking to impeach Gale will need to make a powerful case that he violated the state Constitution with his comments.

Racist and unilateral declarations are not a legitimate use of county or commonwealth resources.

In issuing an official censure days after his letter, Democratic Montgomery County Commissioners Val Arkoosh and Ken Lawrence noted that Gale had used county letterhead for statement. The commissioners, along with the Norristown municipal council, were concerned that this suggested that the county or the municipality of Norristown endorsed the message.

"It promotes racist conspiracy theories," Webster said in his co-sponsorship memorandum. "It promotes violence in our community and endangers law enforcement officers. It disparages the County Seal. It falsely implies that his statements were an official statement of the Montgomery County government. And it demonstrates contempt for the constituents of Montgomery County that he has sworn to serve."

Gale, who has said publicly that he will not resign in the face of Change.org petition that has 86,000 signatures demanding his removal, has been vocal in separating himself from the Republican establishment in the past. He's often cited the "swamp" on both sides of the aisle.

"Do not allow the Republican majority state legislature to join the Democrat mob in destroying courageous people who stand tall against the tyranny of political-correctness," he said Tuesday.

Organizers with PA Women's Rise say it's the first time this type of measure has ever been introduced against a county commissioner in Pennsylvania.