Houston-Area GOP Chairman Reneges On Resignation Over 'Racist' Facebook Post, Party Officials Say

Republican Party officials in Texas say the Harris County chairman-elect has reneged on his June announcement not to take office after he shared an image involving Martin Luther King Jr. which was widely deemed "racist" on Facebook.

Several GOP officials in Harris County, the state's most populous county and home to the Greater Houston area, told the Texas Tribune Monday that chairman-elect Keith Nielsen will, in fact, assume office despite previously announcing he would step aside.

In early June, Nielsen shared a since-deleted picture on his Facebook page which showed a quote from King, the Black civil rights era-icon, alongside a banana - an allusion to a racist trope which compares Black people to monkeys. The post was condemned by a wide range of Texas GOP officials including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who demanded Nielsen "immediately withdraw" from the county chair position.

"[Nielsen] announced that he would be taking office on August 3," said Nancy Scott, a precinct chair, in a Monday interview with the Texas Tribune. She was one of several officials who were in attendance at the July 11 meeting where Nielsen reneged on his announcement to resign.

There are now only a few weeks left before a planned August 8 election to pick his replacement. But Harris County GOP officials say he's reversed course and is "going to be taking charge" after all, as Senate district chair Bob Sumicek added to the Tribune Monday.

Just days after Nielsen's MLK social media post was condemned by state and congressional leaders, he deleted the content. Nielsen then responded to the controversy in a separate Saturday, June 6 Facebook post. But one day later, he edited his comments on that post to say he would not resign and instead called for "racial reconciliation."

"It is unfortunate that the sentiment of the quote and my admiration for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been overshadowed by people's misinterpretation of an image," Nielsen wrote in the edited version of the June 6 Facebook post. "My hope is I will continue to be part of the solution and never part of the problem."

The post, like the one featuring the quote from King, has since been deleted from Nielsen's Facebook page.

Newsweek reached out to Nielsen Monday for additional remarks and context about his plans to push forward and assume the Harris County chair position next month. Facebook posts from supporters urging him not to step down remain on his timeline, including one which cautions, "you'll be letting the insane PC crowd win." Several constituents urged him to assume office, citing what they viewed as a dubious "racist" connection between a banana and the King quotation.

Nielsen was one of five Republican leaders in Texas counties who were asked to step aside from politics in June after the uncovering of social media posts deemed racist by top GOP officials. Houston-based U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw issued a statement to the Tribune at the time saying, "[Keith] Nielsen has no place in our party. Not now. Not ever."

Newsweek reached out to Crenshaw's office for any additional commentary on Nielsen's potential plans to return as Harris County chairman.

Party spokesperson Genevieve Carter told the Tribune Monday that while Nielsen's return is still speculation, he officially has not notified the party's secretary of his formal intention not to assume office.