Philadelphia State Senator Accused of Using N-Word, Antigay Slurs in Social Media Posts Blames Basketball Players

A Local Pennsylvania lawmaker is addressing decade-old tweets containing racial slurs, calling them a distraction from "real issues."

Philadelphia State Sen. Jimmy Dillon (D) stated that tweets featuring slurs on the X (formerly Twitter) account @Hoops24_7 were not posted by him, but may have been posted by other players working with the basketball academy.

The X account @Hoops24_7 is associated with the Hoops 24-7 Basketball Academy in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which was founded by Dillon. He serves as a ward leader at the academy.

As of Sept. 26, the account @Hoops24_7 has been removed from the platform. Furthermore, the DVJournal notes that the posts were quickly deleted from the account following the publication's attempt to contact the Dillon campaign for a statement Monday night.

"As a coach, I work with kids to teach them how to play basketball and learn skills both on and off the court. I'm not a big social media guy. If basketball players who work with Hoops 24-7 posted something like this more than a decade ago, it's the first I've heard about it," Dillon said in a statement provided to DVJournal.

Posts published on the account from 2011-2013 feature a variety of slurs and other offensive insults, including the n-word, use of the term "gay" in a derogatory context as well as racist references to Asians.

"He's posted numerous tweets in the first-person on this account and retweeted official and campaign content as well," said Michael Straw, communications director for the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Campaign Committee, who indicated that other tweets on the account from the same time period indicate Dillon's personal operation of the account.

"This is classic Senator Jimmy Dillon, running away from the problem and not wanting to be held accountable. Just like when the arrest warrant was uncovered, he ran away from it for 20 years." Straw continued.

"They're taking decades-old tweets someone else wrote and waving them around like a bunch of maniacs. Meanwhile, they're hoping we're too dumb to notice that, at the same time, they're trying to rip away women's reproductive rights, prevent access to IVF treatments, and block common sense gun violence legislation," said Mark Nevins, a spokesperson for Dillon's campaign. "Sorry, weirdos. It's not happening."