Souderton Area School District Board Director William Formica, III, made a misogynistic social media comment about Vice President Kamala Harris this week and parents are outraged.
The school board director’s online attack was in response to a post that took issue with a comment attributed to Democratic presidential candidate Harris.
“I will proudly put my record against Donald Trump’s any day of the week,” Harris is reported to have said at a July 23 rally in Wisconsin, reported The Shade Room.
The author of the post to which Formica responded asked “WHAT RECORD? Name ONE THING this chick has accomplished, politically. ONE!”
“She blew a lot of dudes,” Formica wrote. It appears he has since deleted the tweet.
Formica’s offensive remark has sparked widespread indignation from within the Souderton community, and numerous residents have taken to online networks to express their outrage over what many perceive to be misogynistic commentary by Formica.
“Frankly, I am absolutely disgusted,” said local parent and taxpayer John Waldenberger. “Especially when it comes from the very same people that claim to be working to protect our children from sexual deviance and degeneracy and then make such lewd comments about such a highly elected official who also happens to be a woman.”
Souderton Area for Responsible Leadership placed Formica’s post on their Facebook page that prompted public commentary. One local parent and former teacher wrote, “He’s an absolute disgrace. Our children should not have people like him as stewards of their education.”
READ: We All Know How MAGA Will Attack Kamala Harris: Racism, Sexism, Conspiracies, and Disinformation
Alex Wisser, a parent and taxpayer in the district, told the Beacon that school board directors are supposed to represent the entire district, including areas where board members and taxpayers may not share the same ideology. She also remarked that Formica’s entire feed on X contains many eyebrow raising comments. “Pick an ‘ism,’ it’s probably there,” she said.
“Mr. Formica is not trying to hide his opinions, which show intolerance and disdain for anyone with whom he disagrees,” Wisser said. “The Souderton school district motto is ‘a community where character counts.’ Mr. Formica’s views, as expressed in his social media account, do not match that motto, and I believe this reflects poorly on the entire school board and district administration.’
It didn’t take long for comments about Formica’s remark to begin piling up, especially on TikTok after Cringey the Ram took aim at Formica’s sexist and chauvinist comment that has spurred 75 responses at last count.
Formica’s public display of misogyny is shocking, but not surprising, given his association with the right-wing, anti-government Three Percenter group – a fact that Formica has not tried to hide. Formica’s blatant choice to display Three Percenter logos on his vehicles, and even his decision to wear clothing that highlights the group’s emblems to school board meetings, do not serve to bring the community together.
What’s puzzling is why Formica, believed to be a Three Percenter, would want to serve on a public school board given that according to the district’s own guidelines: “School Board members are both state and local officials. Though elected locally, they serve on behalf of the state legislature.”
Information about the group may be found in USA Today, The Atlantic, The Anti-Defamation League, Reuters, Politico, and dozens of other publications.
Three Percenters have also been reported to have played a role in the January 6 insurrection.
Another pertinent question concerns the board’s overall position on Formica’s remark. It remains to be seen whether the board considers such explicit sexist commentary to be acceptable from an elected official who does wield influence over numerous aspects of this public-school district’s operations.
Souderton Area school board meetings were not held during the month of July, however the next school board committee meeting is scheduled for the second Wednesday of the month, or August 14. The board’s action meeting usually meets on the fourth Thursday of the month. Those planning to attend either meeting should check the district’s website in the event of schedule changes
