USG releases statement on controversial comment
Undergraduate Student Government released a statement Tuesday regarding a controversial comment posted by the official USG Instagram account during Friday’s presidential candidate debate broadcasted on Annenberg Media’s Instagram Live.
“I think door to door soliciting isn’t allowed lol so idk how they are gonna do that,” the @uscusg Instagram account commented in response to the Rachel Lee and Collin Colson ticket outlining their campaign strategy, which included knocking on people’s doors.
Lee and Colson, who are write-in candidates for president and vice president, asked for an apology from USG and for their names to be put on the ballot in an Instagram post Tuesday.
In its statement, USG said “the internal digital strategy team” and several candidate tickets had access to the USG Instagram account” and that “USG cannot identify who is responsible for the remark” at this time.
“We do acknowledge USG’s internal responsibility for the lapse in oversight that allowed this event to occur,” the statement read. “We apologize for the confusion this error may have caused and reemphasize our strong commitment to remaining impartial.”
The statement continues, writing that USG will “work diligently to ensure our communication channels protect the integrity of our election processes.”
In an interview with the Daily Trojan, Colson said the ticket wants more action from USG as a result of the comment. The Daily Trojan Editorial Board released an article Tuesday condemning the comment, demanding that USG issue a “public and permanent apology” and calling it a “blatant disregard of professionalism.”
“After the Daily Trojan [editorial] came out and exposed to a greater audience that kind of behavior, we really wanted an apology and we wanted the write-in candidates to be put on the ballot,” Colson said. “While it’s nice to hear words of apology from USG, it’d be better to see action.”
Weston Bell-Geddes and Erica Wang, who dropped out of the presidential race Feb. 3, expressed support for the write-in candidates in an Instagram post Wednesday.
“It is incredibly disappointing to see how USG is handling what is supposed to be a fair, democratic process,” their post read. “[The write-in candidates] should be on the ballot. Write them in!”
USG has not contacted either member of the Lee-Colson ticket individually, according to Colson. in an interview with the Daily Trojan, USG president Alexis Areias said USG is apologetic and looking into who posted the comment to “ensure USG is an impartial body that has no business making any influence in the current elections.”
“First and foremost, I think what I want to say to the Lee-Colson campaign is they have a right to be frustrated, and it’s very understandable to to be feeling the way that they are,” Areias said. “We made a mistake … and I’m sorry that we even got to this place in the first place.”
The Lee-Colson ticket entered the presidential election race as write-in candidates, blending satire such as a pledge to commission a Saweetie statue “1 inch taller than Tommy Trojan,” and a desire to make real change by abolishing Greek life, reversing gentrification in South Central and defunding the Department of Public Safety. The ticket also emphasized that its position as an outsider will help it to better open lines of communication with the student body.
The debate, which USG and Annenberg Media hosted, was intended to give each ticket a fair chance to express its platform. Supporters of Lee-Colson interpreted the comment as USG bias against Lee-Colson’s anti-USG campaign.
Colson said the Instagram accounts’ comment is representative of unfair practices that “we feel are undemocratic.”
“Rachel and I have been very displeased with how this election has been carried out. There have been a lot of policies that we feel are undemocratic,” Colson said. “We wanted to change things about USC, but we can’t do that if the hill is steeper for us than it is for others.”
Grace Harrington contributed to this report.