Democrat Erick Wright, who describes himself as an activist, neighbor, friend, consultant and businessman, is currently challenging incumbent Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.
The Alabama Democratic Party has struggled to fill the ballot with candidates this year, and as Yellowhammer previously pointed out, they even appear to have continued adding candidates after the qualifying deadline in an effort to fill out their roster. Wright was one of those candidates, although as of 11 p.m. on March 3, his Twitter bio continues to state that he is a member of The Alabama Independence Party.
Wright has not received a lot of press attention, but he has been a fairly prolific publisher of YouTube videos featuring his political ramblings over the last couple of years. But one video stood out above the rest, one in which the soon-to-be congressional candidate publicly pontificated on the potty. That’s right — the Democrats’ choice for congress posted a video talking into the camera while sitting on the toilet and named the feature “Politics on the Throne.”
Wright tried to remove the video after deciding to run for Congress, but Yellowhammer had already made sure to acquire it just in case it one day disappeared.
Wright’s restroom ramblings include criticisms of Fox News and the Tea Party, and the assertion that state and local government intrusion into individuals’ lives far exceeds that of the federal government. He also refers to abortion as a “God-given right.”
“If you look at the restrictions we have on our day-to-day lives, it’s come from state and local government,” Wright says in his lecture from the latrine. “The way you wear your pants — people are getting fined $100, $200 and even getting jail time just by the way they wear their pants. What’s next, are you going to tell a gay person they can’t be gay? Or are you going to tell a person who dresses in drag that that’s not appropriate and you’re going to fine them too? Like, when will enough be enough? If you want to have an abortion, what kind of intrusive things do you have to go through just to get an abortion knowing that it’s your God-given right to do so as an American?”
Wright’s YouTube channel also includes videos in which he’s not communicating from the commode. Another post shows him reading some prepared remarks off of his phone at a Trayvon Martin Rally in Montgomery. During his speech, he encouraged the crowd to take action against lawmakers who oppose stricter gun laws by “kick[ing] their a** out.”
Wright did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but admittedly there’s a good chance he was simply indisposed at the time we tried to contact him.
Update: Yellowhammer readers are the best…
@Cliff_Sims @YHPolitics I bet he's flush with media requests right now.
— griffingulledge (@griffingulledge) March 4, 2014
@Cliff_Sims @YHPolitics his political aspirations just went down the drain.
— griffingulledge (@griffingulledge) March 4, 2014
@Cliff_Sims @YHPolitics what crappy way to lose….
Ok, ok. I'm done.
— griffingulledge (@griffingulledge) March 4, 2014
Update 2: Wright responds.
@YHPolitics tomorrow in Montgomery steps of the capitol. My response.If you're in attendance you'll get the opportunity to report real news.
— Erick Wright (@ErickWright2014) March 4, 2014
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
