A South Jersey man who was running for elected office allegedly told a female journalist on social media that he hopes she would get sexually assaulted.
Mike Krawitz, a Republican candidate for the West Deptford Township Committee, sent messages Monday via Facebook to Daily Beast reporter Olivia Nuzzi.
Nuzzi shared a screenshot of Krawitz's since-deleted comments on her Twitter:
"F--- You. Olivia, I. Hope. Somebody. Rapes. You. Today. :)" reads one of Krawitz's replies to a post in which Nuzzi shared a story about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and ex-wife Marla Maples.
A minute later, Krawitz wrote, "Hope. You. Get. Raped. By. A. Syrian Refugee. :)"
The West Deptford GOP initially claimed that Krawitz's Facebook account was hacked, Politico reported.
However, Nuzzi claimed that Krawitz's harassment could be traced as early as December 2014 and shared a similar message from last month:
On Aug. 10, Krawitz wrote on Nuzzi's page, "How's. The. Gun. Crime. In. Democrat. Chicago. Olivia. You. Ugly. Stupid. C---. :)"
The local party's Facebook page has since been disabled and party leaders called for Krawitz to be removed from the ballot after finding no "reasonable reason to believe Mr. Krawitz's account was hacked."
In a handwritten note, Krawitz officially withdrew Tuesday afternoon from the race (via Politico's Matt Friedman).
Krawitz has not commented on the reason why he made his decision.