Update: District 23 Issues Statement On Rios’ Antisemitic Comment

Update 02/10/2025

The ND District 23 GOP sent out a press release late on Sunday, February 9th, commenting on the recent social media post made by District 23 state representative Nico Rios.

District 23 noted that they are aware of the recent statement made by Representative Rios on his social media platform.

"We strongly condemn the antisemitic comments. The views expressed do not align with our views or principles. We stand in support of Israel and the Jewish people. Our party values integrity and demands that it be represented throughout the government. Representative Rios's comments do not align with our district's and its constituents' values.

 

This statement and past behavior fall short of our expectations of elected officials from our district. The Executive Committee of the ND District 23 GOP issued an affirmative vote of "no confidence" for Representative Nico Rios's ability to represent the interests and values of our district."

A screenshot of Rios' post on X can be found below.

Original

District 23 Republican Representative has once again made comments that have left a large number of Williston and Williams County residents looking between their fingers at a screen.

However, this time it wasn't a drunken homophobic tirade while being arrested by Williston Police during a DUI stop.

Nor is it not about transphobic comments made on X in a squabble with another member of the state legislature that concluded with asking a sitting state senator if he was gay.

This time Rios hopped on social media and couldn't contain his fingers from firing off what he surely thought was a banger of a tweet:

It's not quite clear if Rios meant to be just antisemitic or if he also meant to be racist as well in the post referencing Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.

According to the Inforum, Sheinbaum was born into a secular Jewish family. Her father is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and emigrated from Lithuania to Mexico. Her mother's family is Sephardi Jewish and fled anti-Semitic persecution in Bulgaria in 1942.

The comments come just as Presidents Trump and Sheinbaum came to an agreement to place Mexican troops at the southern border to create an uneasy delay of a potential tariff-laden trade war.

North Dakota Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn released a statement on the incident saying, “As a Jew myself, I’m not personally hurt by Nico Rios’ bigoted comments about Mexico’s Jewish President Claudia Scheinbaum. Time after time after time, he shows us that he does not believe in North Dakota values of individual liberty, loving your neighbors, or the rule of law.

We know Nico Rios is a lawbreaker and a bigot. We learned that when we called on him to resign last year when he insulted a police officer in a drunken tirade. Now we will find out who the people of Williston are. As a Fargoan, I could not be more proud of the Dem-NPL legislators who represent me; are the people of Williston proud of theirs? Is the Republican Party proud? Is this who they are? If not, what will they do about it?”

The Republican from Williston told The Bismarck Tribune he was "clearly joking" about overthrowing Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and there was "no harm meant."

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Regardless of political affiliation or location, you live in the state; those questions have been laid down for everyone to ask themselves, once again.