Councillor Richard Foley stands by social media outburst targeting Riverina voters as ‘dumbest f**ks’

A local councillor running for federal parliament has defended a social media outburst in which he labelled voters ‘the dumbest f***s walking on this planet’.

A Wagga Wagga councillor and federal election candidate has stood by a since-deleted social media post in which he labelled voters in the Riverina as “the dumbest f****s walking on this planet”.

Richard Foley, a business owner and the Australian Citizens Party candidate for the seat of Riverina, made the explosive comments on his private Facebook page on Wednesday night after days of campaigning at pre-poll booths.

“Honestly after standing on pre-poll booths for the past 10 days … the vast majority of this electorate are the dumbest f****s walking on this planet,” the post read.

Speaking to Newswire, Mr Foley said the post was made on his locked personal account, which is only visible to around 200 friends.

“Someone in there has taken umbrage to it and that’s fair enough if that’s what they want,” he said.

He claimed the post was made in frustration and was tied to a meme about propaganda theorist Edward Bernays, which accompanied the original post but was not included in the screenshot that was circulated.

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized [sic] habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society,” the unverified meme read.

Cr Richard Foley. Picture: Patrick Morrow

“It was a cruder version of what (Bernays) said,” Mr Foley explained.

“I’m frustrated and I was frustrated and I basically said the vast majority of the voting public here seem to be, absolutely, some of the dumbest f**ks on the planet.”

While he later deleted the post following advice from friends, Mr Foley said, “In hindsight I wish I hadn’t deleted it.”

He said his comments weren’t meant to personally insult individuals but to criticise longstanding voting habits.

“They’re always whingeing about things so if you want something done then do something different,” he said.

“It wasn’t to insult people personally, it’s about how the voting habits have got to change.”

Mr Foley said the Riverina electorate is “very angry”, “disjointed and disconnected”, and pointed to issues like poor infrastructure and neglected roads.

“The roads are appalling,” he said.

The Riverina seat is considered a safe Nationals electorate, with current MP Michael McCormack securing 64 per cent of the vote at the last federal election.

“This is what you get when you have a bloke that just comes out every election time and tells you all of these things he’s done and there’s not much substance to it,” Mr Foley said.

Nationals MP Michael McCormack secured 64 per cent of the vote at the last federal election. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Foley criticised Mr McCormack’s time as deputy prime minister.

“We only got a few million bucks to fix a few roads and Barnaby Joyce … at least he gets over a billion or more dollars for his seat of New England,” he said.

Despite the backlash, he claimed the local reaction to his post had been “more popular than unpopular”.

“We’ve got people that hate me that agree with me,” he said, adding that some residents had stopped him in the street to express support.

He continued campaigning the day before the election, putting up signs and speaking to voters.

“I play a rough game politically, I must admit,” he said.

Mr McCormack has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Councillor Richard Foley stands by social media outburst targeting Riverina voters as ‘dumbest f**ks’