Politics & Government

Tremblay Questions Marathon Bomb Victim's Injuries

"He was not in shock; he was not in pain," NH Rep says of her reaction to the iconic photo of victim Jeff Bauman.

State Rep. Stella Tremblay, R-Auburn, appearing on a nationally syndicated radio show April 30, is now questioning the injuries sustained by marathon bombing victim Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the blast.

"He was not in pain; he was not in shock. If I had had those type of injuries, I'd be screaming in agony," Tremblay told California-based radio host Pete Santilli, describing her "gut feeling" that something about the scenario "was wrong" after viewing the widely publicized photo of Bauman just after the bomb blast.

Tremblay was featured on the program because of her comment that the marathon bombing was a government organized "black ops" plot and an "FBI cover up" according to the program's promo on the Pete Santilli website.

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Democratic National Committeewoman Kathy Sullivan of Manchester is calling for Tremblay's censure and resignation, saying that this goes beyond politics.

"To insinuate this poor man, who could've died – and three people did die –  when she says stuff like this, it's like she's minimizing the loss, the horror. This really has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the fact that we have a state rep out of control," Sullivan said Wednesday.

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"Everyone should immediately call the house leadership – anyone of any stature in the Republican Party, and call for her resignation. While she's entitled to express whatever repugnant, stupid, wacky opinion she may have under the First Amendment, the rest of us have the right to express our repugnance at her unfathomable lunacy. I don't know what else you can call it," Sullivan said.

Bauman, who lives in Chelmsford, Mass., and works for the Costco in Nashua, lost both his legs in the April 15 blast.

House Republican Leader Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett) said while he hadn't yet listened to Tremblay's latest comments, he didn't need to.

"It boggles my mind that a state rep of any party would say that, let alone what she said at first time. This is even more personal to people from New Hampshire.  Even if you want to believe something like that, don't say it, when so many people have been maimed and injured, their lives thrown into pieces. Even if you believe this conspiracy bull crap, it defies logic. I don't know how else to denounce it," Chandler said.

As for asking Tremblay to resign, Chandler said she hasn't broken any laws.

"At this moment I don't plan on asking her to resign. I'm not going to say I wish she wouldn't; I wish she would, maybe, but I don't have a standing to ask. She's duly elected and she hasn't broken any laws. Until such time as she does, all the bad taste and ridiculous errors in judgement don't warrant that. I'm not in any way defending what she said. If I could think of stronger words to say against her, I would, but they'd be words you couldn't print," Chandler said.

Tremblay, in an interview with New Hampshire reporters last week, defended her comments. She said, "What am I going to apologize for, asking questions?"

On air, Santilli asked Tremblay how it felt to be demonized over her previous comments.

"If the government had nothing to fear all they had to say is this is not true," Tremblay said. "Have we got any investigative reports on Bengazi? Do we have any investigative reports on Fast and Furious?They are pushing, pushing, pushing to take away our gun rights," Tremblay said about  two hours and 18 minutes into the nearly three hour radio program, uploaded here via YouTube.

"I tried to get on Glenn Beck. He has taught me a lot of things... there are evil forces in the world, and our government may not be in control of their decisions. There is something out there controlling them. It's been a small awakening." 

She went on to say that whistle blowers in New Hampshire have inspired her, and "lovingly sent information her way," and watched her absorb it over time. "I learned really quickly, that even those in the Republican Party are not what they seem," said Tremblay. 

Tremblay then strayed off topic of the show's marathon conspiracy theory theme to talk about her list of issues within the New Hampshire Republican Party, including removing 189 representatives from serving for their stance on the Stand Your Ground bill.

Sullivan said that while Tremblay does not seem to have support from her Republican colleagues, it's time for New Hampshire as a whole to take a stand against her conspiracy theory commentary now, especially in relation to victims and others who were directly affected by the bombing.

"It's bizarre. On one had you hate to give her more publicity, because she seems to be feeding off it. But on the other hand, you can't ignore her; she's a New Hampshire representative using that position to make statements that don't reflect what the rest of the House of Representatives believes," Sullivan said.  

"She crossed a line, went off a cliff, whatever the right term is, it's past time for her to either resign, or be censured, to show that she does not speak for New Hampshire's representatives, or anyone else here," Sullivan said. 

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Editor's Note: This story was updated at 7:20 p.m. to include comments by House Republican Leader Gene Chandler, R-Bartlett.


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