Liberals drop Pictou East candidate over 'inappropriate social media commentary'

The Nova Scotia Liberal Party dropped its Pictou East candidate Matthew MacKnighton Monday over what the campaign chair called "inappropriate social media commentary."

"The comments madepreviouslyby Mr. MacKnight are not in any way acceptable and run contrary to the values of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, our Leader Stephen McNeil and indeed all Nova Scotians," wrote Nova Scotia Liberal Party campaign chair Chris MacInnes, in an emailed statement.

After a "thorough review" of MacKnight's comments,MacInnes wrote "it's clear he can no longer stand as a candidate for the Liberal campaign."

#Downsydromecontroversy

A spokesperson for the party told CBC News Monday night the Liberals would not be commenting on what exactly MacKnightis supposed to have said on social media.

The party also wouldn't comment on if it would find a replacement candidate for Pictou East

Global News referenced a 2013 tweet in which MacKnightappeared to be complaining about customers at the tech shop The Source calling about store hours for another shop.

The tweet ended with#downsydrome,a derisive reference to people with Down syndrome.

The 2013 tweet was still on his campaign Twitter account Monday evening. A few hours later, MacKnight made his Twitter account private.MacKnight also deleted his Facebook campaign page.

CBC News attempted to contact MacKnight on Twitter Monday night but did not get an immediate response.

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