PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania Democratic state senator denied claims from Republicans that he made racist and homophobic remarks about Black, Asian and LGBTQ people on social media more than a decade ago.
On Tuesday, Sept. 24, the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Campaign Committee released a statement accusing Sen. Jimmy Dillon (D-Philadelphia) of writing a string of offensive posts on Twitter — now known as X — under the account for Hoops 24-7, a year-round basketball academy that Dillon operates.
All five tweets — posted in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 — were deleted. The SRCC provided screenshots of the tweets, however.
“The revelation of Jimmy Dillon’s past use of the n-word is unsettling. Let’s be clear, this was not a teenager making a mistake or a single comment taken out of context. This was a grown man in his 30s casually using the n-word and making disgusting jokes repeatedly on his social media. We can only wonder what Jimmy Dillon is saying behind closed doors if this is the kind of language he’ll post publicly for the world to see,” PA SRCC Executive Director Cody Harbaugh said.
“And African Americans aren’t the only ones subject to his offensive slurs and remarks. Dillon has made disparaging comments about the LGBT and Asian communities.”
In a response to the SRCC’s allegations, Dillon denied writing the offensive tweets.
“As a coach, I work with kids to teach them how to play basketball and learn skills both on and off the court,” he wrote. “I’m not a big social media guy. If a basketball player who works with Hoops 24-7 posted something like this more than a decade ago, it’s the first I’ve heard about it, and it doesn’t reflect my values. My focus has been and will continue to be standing up to MAGA extremists and protecting women’s reproductive rights. Nothing changes that.”
Dillon, 45, is a Northeast Philadelphia native who currently represents the 5th senatorial district after winning a special election in May 2022 to replace incumbent Democrat John Sabatina. Dillon is currently seeking reelection and will face the Republican nominee Joe Picozzi on Nov. 5.
“Based on his past actions, the residents of Northeast Philadelphia have serious reason to question Jimmy Dillon’s ability to be an unbiased legislator who represents ALL people in the Northeast,” Harbaugh said. “His behavior is disqualifying, period. We call on Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa and the Senate Democrat Campaign Committee to swiftly condemn Jimmy Dillon and his use of vile slurs and remarks.”
While it remains unclear who wrote the five offensive tweets that the SRCC highlighted, the Hoops 24-7 account frequently shares posts from Dillon’s X account and features multiple posts showing photos of Dillon that appear to be written by him in the first-person.
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A campaign spokesperson for Dillon also dismissed the SRCC’s accusations as “typical, phony MAGA Republican distraction.”
“They’re taking decades old tweets someone else wrote and waving them around like a bunch of maniacs. Meanwhile, they’re hoping we’re too dumb to notice that, at the same time, they’re trying to rip away women’s reproductive rights, prevent access to IVF treatments, and block commonsense gun violence legislation. Sorry weirdos. It’s not happening,” the spokesperson wrote.
Brittany Crampsie, a spokesperson for the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, also denied the allegations.
“Senator Dillon’s record speaks for itself,” she wrote. “At every opportunity, he has been a strong advocate and consistent vote in support of Black and LGBTQ Pennsylvanians. He has nurtured and trained young people from all backgrounds his entire career. Distasteful tweets from more than a decade ago written by someone else don’t change that.”
