South Dakota Legislature
A South Dakota state senator currently running for Congress suggested last year that a terrorist attack would “help him win a contested primary,” according to a recording obtained by The Huffington Post. State senator Neal Tapio, a GOP congressional candidate, said “all that has to happen is that there will be one more terrorist attack between now and then and I will be the, just by the Trump effect, I will be the candidate. That’s the way I look at it.” He also said he “wouldn’t want [his] kids to serve in the military even with Trump as president.” “You just are giving up your life to be mercenaries for Saudi Arabia,” he Tapio said. In response to the terror-attack remarks, Tapio wrote that “[t]error has something to do with Islam.” “To suggest I am advocating for a terror attack is a disgusting smear and you should be ashamed of yourself,” he wrote. He also told HuffPost that his comment about the military was “meant to sympathize with U.S. troops.” Tapio, a Trump supporter, is currently in a three-way primary on June 5th for the Republican nomination.