An Arlington liberal lost it on a Republican poll greeter outside a Virginia polling place Tuesday, video of the incident shows.
Matthew Hurtt, the chairman of the Arlington GOP, filmed the bespectacled progressive berating him as the man exited the D.C. suburb’s Dawson Terrace Community Center. The man initially confronted Hurtt prior to entering the polling place and then continued harassing him after casting his ballot, Hurtt noted on Twitter.
“You fucking people tried to overthrow the election. You may as well have been walking up to my head on the way to the polling station putting a gun to my head and trying to tell me not to vote,” the man told Hurtt, who was offering Republican sample ballots to voters as they approached the polls, according to the video. “You fucking try to overthrow elections with violence? And then you’re out here, with decent people?”
Unhinged progressive confronts Republican poll greeter in Arlington, Election Day 2023. pic.twitter.com/fgRfNxVS7X
— Matthew Hurtt (@matthewhurtt) November 7, 2023
The confrontation lasted over a minute while the man continued to throw accusations towards Hurtt, including accusing him of supporting “rapists’ rights.” At one point, the angry voter threatened to “fucking remember you personally” if Hurtt attempted to “steal my vote” in 2024 and then took out his phone to take a picture of Hurtt.
The GOP greeter, who remained polite throughout the incident, responded that Virginia is a one-party consent state, meaning it is legal for one participant in a conversation to record the exchange without the other’s permission. The progressive, clad in a blue t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts, appeared to misinterpret this as a reference to the political regime known as a “one-party state,” accusing Hurtt of wanting a “one-party nation.” (Here’s What You Need To Know About Tomorrow’s Key Elections)
“Try not to be buddy-buddy with these people because they put on the face of a good neighbor, but they support lynch mobs and the fuckin’ KKK, or they’re fucking bible-beating bigots and freaks,” the man then told a bystander who Hurtt had just greeted and offered a sample ballot.
Hurtt told the Daily Caller that he remains committed to showing up for Republicans in the area and making the best case he can for the Arlington GOP. In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden won Arlington with 105,344 votes to then President Donald Trump’s 22,318.
Hurtt also said that he enjoys incidents like the one he recorded, as they help amplify his message.
“I would take a punch from a leftie if it was caught on camera,” he told the Caller.