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By BWSTimes Staff
During a bizarre radio interview on the Thrive Time Show podcast, Tulsa’s District 5 city councilor Cass Fahler accused the Mayor GT Bynum of being a secret Democrat, doubled down as anti-mask advocate, and gave inaccurate COVID-19 facts.
Notably, Bynum welcomed President Donald Trump’s campaign rally to the BOK Center during the global COVID-19 pandemic against professional medical advice.
Fahler described his father as an “Oklahoma redneck” and said that his mother is from El Paso, Texas. He described himself as a “half breed” or of “mix breed.” Interestingly, he never claimed indigenous or Hispanic/Latinx/Latino American ancestry, all while the Trump Administration continues its anti-Brown people campaign.
Perhaps for political reasons, he felt it unnecessary to say the words ‘Hispanic, Latinx or Mexican, etc.’
Podcast host, Clay Cark recognized that that city councilor wasn’t White. “You don’t appear to be a pasty white male,” the host stated.
Clearly, the one-drop rule also applies to Fahler.
Clay asked if Fahler was allowed to be a Republican; the city councilor answered, “Yes! They let me,” followed by his own chuckles.
Fahler better make sure he has a “Blue Lives Matter” sticker the next time he gets pulled over out of town.
During the interview, Fahler announced that he’s still against mask mandates. In July, he was one of two city councilors who voted against that Tulsa mask mandate. Connie Dodson of District 6 was the other city councilor who voted against the mask mandate.
Fahler is up for reelection on August 25th; four District 5 candidates are vying for his seat.
District 5 candidate Mykey Arthrell said, “Cass claims he had District 5 support for his mask-vote veto. I have knocked over 2,000 doors, and every resident I have spoken to is shocked and dismayed at the way he is representing our District. District 5 is embarrassed by his performance on the talk show in-question and wants Cass to respond to his constituents rather than hide in Facebook groups and his personal patio town halls. He can’t hear from the District if he keeps blocking and ignoring them.”
Fahler has been known for blocking constituents who have disagreed with him.
Nat Wachowski-Estes, another candidate vying for Fahler’s city council seat, said, “Every day, Tulsans are making sacrifices to stop this virus. For an elected official to spout false statistics and make light is dangerous, lacks empathy and attempts to pit us against one another. I support our mask mandate and all efforts we’re making to protect each other, save lives, and get back to normal.”
During the interview, Fahler stated, “You’re are just as likely to get bitten by a shark or get struck by lightning and killed. It’s a terrible action being done by us — on the citizens of Tulsa.”
Fahler said that he received this information from National Geographics. The BWSTimes’ staff tried searching for this study and couldn’t locate it anywhere on the internet.
But why should Tulsans be concerned about shark bites while living in a landlocked state — Oklahoma? More Tulsans have died of COVID-19 than people who’ve been bitten by sharks. According to the Flordia Museum’s Yealy Worldwide Shark Attack Summary, there were 140 alleged shark-human interactions. In 2019 sharks killed two people. Over 150,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 complications.
Fahler stated that less than 1% of Americans contract the virus; however, the rate of known COVID-19 infections in Tulsa County is currently 1,537.57 per 100,000. The Tulsa infection rate is above 1.5%.
Fahler incorrectly stated COVID-19 known cases and related deaths in his interview. “Today, on August 3rd, we have roughly 8,000 [COVID-19] cases,” he falsely claimed during the interview; however, according to John Hopkins University and Medical Center, Oklahoma currently has 41,395 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Tulsa County has 9,969 cases. He went on to inaccurately claim, “We are roughly around 98,” referring to the number of COVID-19 deaths. Nevertheless, Oklahoma has 593 COVID-19 related deaths. Tulsa County has 105 deaths. This is also according to John Hopkins University and Medical Center.
Perhaps, Fahler should apologize to the families who lost loved ones due to COVID-19 caused by miss information.