A Carlsbad City Council member is under fire for posting on social media that women have the “right to get slapped.”
J.R. Doporto said he was only joking on his personal Facebook page when he commented that women have many rights, including the right to cook, clean and get slapped, just one day after millions of women gathered in communities around the world to march for women’s rights, KOB-TV reported today.
Doporto said people who know him, know he was joking. He said he is sorry if he offended anyone.
“I like to joke around a lot. It’s my personal page, you know?” Doporto said. “It was taken out of context. It was a joke by saying you know a woman should be slapped.”
Many members of the Carlsbad community said Doporto should be held accountable for his words regardless of his intention.
“(Elected officials) need to be held to a higher standard and for crying out loud, that’s not accepted among general circles of the population nowadays,” said Jennifer Ashbaugh, who lives in Carlsbad. “It’s pretty disgusting to see an elected official saying something like that, about women in 2017.”
Doporto’s full Facebook post reads: “Just want to give a heads up to the women! You have rights! A right to cook and a right to clean. Today is Sunday and the NFL playoffs our [sic] on! I suggest you stop your b!tch!ng/protesting during this time. Because you also have a right to get slapped!”
Doporto said no one is forced to read his posts on social media.
“If I offended somebody I’m sorry,” he said. “You uh, maybe shouldn’t uh, read my posts, just scroll on, everybody has that right.”
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway released a statement to KOB saying Doporto has his right to freedom of speech. He said neither he nor the City of Carlsbad condones domestic violence in any way.
