Mesa mayor faces harsh backlash for hot-mic comments about President Donald Trump

The Republic | azcentral.com

The subject line? "Dear Mayor Dumbass." The contents of the email message: a prayer that the mayor of Mesa, John Giles, dies a slow, painful death from testicular cancer.

Giles drew the vitriolic response from some corners of the Internet after appearing to call President Donald Trump an "idiot." A local TV station caught him on a hot mic while he was talking with U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake after a town hall on Nov. 17.

The situation reflects what one expert says is a coarsening of civic discourse that increasingly concerns many Americans.

By Monday, a public-records search by The Arizona Republic found at least 41 emails to Giles in response to the incident. The vast majority are critical. He has also received 18 voice mails on the issue, all negative, according to a spokeswoman.

Giles' social-media accounts also lit up. At least one tweet was peppered with the snake emoji that similarly plagued singer Taylor Swift online after her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian escalated.

Others have called the mayor, who leads a city once ranked as the most conservative in the United States, a "traitor" to the Republican Party.

One person wrote to Giles, "Get out, you are a disgrace." Many said they would not vote for Giles again or would try to vote him out. The mayor's term ends in 2020.

A statement from the mayor reads in part:

"My words, while regrettably informal and imprecise during a private conversation, were a manifestation of my frustration and concern with national politics. I want to apologize to those who might have misinterpreted my comments as being critical or dismissive of the intelligence of the voters who elected both me and the President."

Trump tweeted about the incident, although he directed his ire at Flake.

Carolyn Lukensmeyer, who heads the University of Arizona's National Institute for Civil Discourse, said the ideological divide and breakdown in civil discourse in the nation began in political circles but has spread.

"It's now like a virus that’s infected the public," she said.

'Crisis point' in political discourse

The reaction Giles faces is symptomatic of a "personal" and "attacking" dialogue that began during the 2016 election, Lukensmeyer said. But Lukensmeyer said Giles sparked the backlash by using the word "idiot."

"The example you’re giving (the hot-mic comments) is very egregious on the mayor’s part and then equally egregious on the people who responded to the mayor in the way that they did," Lukensmeyer said. "Elected officials hold the public trust. And they really do have to hold themselves — and we should hold them — to a higher standard."

She says the institute hears a lot of concern from the public over what she calls a "degradation" of the political discourse.

"This is really a crisis at this point," she said.

The coarsening of discourse also presents challenges at the Thanksgiving dinner table. As the holiday season barrels forward, more Americans — about 58 percent — are dreading the moment when the conversation turns to politics, according to a new NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll.

Revive civility

There are solutions for a national political discourse gone off the rails, according to Lukensmeyer. The National Institute of Civil Discourse was established after the 2011 shooting of then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords near Tucson. Now, the institute is working on a campaign called Revive Civility.

"People are just reacting quickly rather than taking a breath, pausing, thinking of the context they’re in," Lukensmeyer said.

She recommends more active listening, or "listening to understand," during political conversations.

As for the dinner table over the holidays? The institute encourages Americans to sit down with an open mind and talk about individual values over political candidates.

Giles' full statement reads:

My words, while regrettably informal and imprecise during a private conversation, were a manifestation of my frustration and concern with national politics. I want to apologize to those who might have misinterpreted my comments as being critical or dismissive of the intelligence of the voters who elected both me and the President. Much of the feed back I have received has come from people outside of Mesa and usually Arizona. I hope Mesa residents will look at my history and recognize that I will always put their interests ahead of partisan politics as I️ work to strengthen our city.

Mesa Public Schools Superintendent Michael Cowan plans to retire

Mesa's iconic Buckhorn Baths sold; developer mulls over what's next

Mesa crowdsourcing ideas through online resident forum

Mesa mayor's photos used in 'catfishing' online-dating scheme