UPDATE 10.08.24: On Monday, the Nez Perce Tribe released a statement titled “We are all from here,” saying it was disheartened by the events that took place at the candidate forum last week where GOP Senator Dan Foreman told a Native American candidate to go back to where she came from. The Tribe said the region’s diverse population deserves leadership that represents and respects everyone.
“Given our history and presence in the region, it is difficult to interpret the recent incident as anything other than an attempt to racially divide people while diminishing the value of some relative to others,” it reads. “The Nez Perce Tribe refuses to tolerate this kind of hateful and divisive politics and we ask other elected leaders in this region to stand with us in pushing back against such offensive behavior.”
The Idaho GOP did not respond to a request for comment but did post a message on X in support of Foreman. “As you may have seen over this past week, the mainstream media has been running with this racism narrative. This was a setup, pure and simple,” the statement reads. “Dan Foreman is not a racist nor does Idaho have a systemic racism problem. This is a non-issue, as it didn't happen as reported. It is entirely scurrilous as to what the democrats and media are doing to this man. After reviewing and verifying, the Idaho GOP stands behind Senator Dan Foreman.”
Speaking on the Nate Shelman Podcast, Foreman denied telling anyone to go back to where they came from and said he left because the forum was set up as a trap to attack conservatives.
“On the way out, I told them they could take the whole thing and stick it in their ear,” he said, “And that was the full extent of what I said. I never made a racist remark.”
UPDATE 10.04.24: Native American and Idaho State House candidate Trish Carter-Goodheart says she’ll continue to advocate for “representation, equity and respect” following the racist outburst directed at her by Sen. Dan Foreman.
Carter-Goodheart said the comment from the sitting lawmaker - to go back to where she came from - was painful to hear, but on par with her experience as a native woman in Idaho.
“It touches upon all aspects of my identity, my ancestry, my culture, my daily life,” she said. “It's like constantly being reminded that people see me as an ‘other,’ that my culture and my history is undervalued and that my existence is politicized.”
“I'm still processing it,” she added. “I'm absolutely shocked and floored that he became so unraveled.”
“If he had just the emotional intelligence to say, to just stop what he was saying to restrain himself, we could have had an amazing dialog about racism today,” Carter-Goodheart said. “He missed that moment for education and growth.”
Foreman did not not respond to several requests for comment, but wrote two Facebook posts about the incident. The senator denied saying anything racist and called the story a “stereotypical left wing hit job on a Republican candidate.”
“I enlightened this person to the fact I was born in America, and I am therefore a native American. There was no racial slur in my statement,” he wrote.
Foreman also accused the media of only using reports of the evening from politically-biased attendees.
Carter-Goodheart’s opponent, Republican Rep. Lori McCann, one event organizer and another panelist all confirmed to Boise State Public Radio the senator’s words towards Carter-Goodheart.
The Audio version for this story was updated on 10.04.24
ORIGINAL STORY: A bipartisan forum in a small Latah County community took a turn when Republican Senate incumbent Dan Foreman stormed out of the event, following a racist outburst directed at a Native American candidate.
On Tuesday, local Democrat and Republican representatives organized a “Meet your candidates” forum in the northern Idaho town of Kendrick. Three contenders from each party vying for District 6 legislative seats - one senate and two house representatives positions - answered questions submitted by audience members.
When asked if discrimination existed in Idaho, conservative Sen. Dan Foreman said no.
In a statement released Wednesday, Democratic candidate for House Seat A and member of the Nez Perce tribe Trish Carter-Goodheart said she pushed back on that idea when it was her turn to speak, pointing to her own experience and the history of white supremacy groups in Northern Idaho.
“[J]ust because someone hasn’t personally experienced discrimination, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Racism and discrimination are real issues here in Idaho, as anyone familiar with our state’s history knows,” the statement read. “I highlighted our weak hate crime laws and mentioned the presence of the Aryan Nations in northern Idaho as undeniable evidence of this reality.”
Foreman stood up and angrily interjected, using an expletive to criticize what he cast as the liberal bent of the response, according to the release and people present at the forum.
Carter-Goodheart said he then told her she should go back to where she came from, and heatedly stormed off. One event organizer and two other panelists confirmed Carter-Goodheart’s account, adding Foreman appeared very agitated.
Carter-Goodheart is campaigning to be a house representative and is not running against the senator. Her opponent, Republican Rep. Lori McCann was also present at the forum. In an email, she said she read Carter-Goodheart's statement "and found it to be an accurate account of what transpired in Kendrick."
Foreman has a history of angrily confronting people in public, and shouting profanities.
He did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
Indigenous people, including the Nez Perce tribe, have lived in the Columbia River Basin for thousands of years. Foreman was born in Lake Forest, Illinois.
