Not long ago, state Rep. Travis Corcoran (R-Weare) wanted everyone to drop the “N-bomb.”
Now he just wants to drop the subject.
Corcoran, a self-styled intellectual rebel and part-time sci-fi writer (“a band of malcontents, dreamers, and libertarian radicals bolted privately-developed antigravity drives onto rusty seagoing cargo ships…”) took to Twitter earlier this year to urge everyone who follows him use the N-word as a protest against woke culture.
“We must all say or type the word’ n*gger’ in a public place, as a declaration that the progs can’t control our thoughts or our behaviors — EVEN IF WE DISLIKE THE WORD,” Corcoran wrote on his personal @MorlockP Twitter account. “It’s the ‘small pinch of incense’ test, in reverse. They demand ritual obedience. Disobey.”
Corcoran claimed in follow-up tweets that he dislikes the N-word and did not want to hurt people. But he thought it was important to use it to boldly push back against liberals in the fight for free speech and open expression.
As he says in his Twitter bio, “I came here to chew bubble gum and fight for a free New Hampshire…and I’m all out of bubble gum.”
So, what was his reaction when a NHJournal reporter called him to discuss his posts?
Corcoran hung up.
He also declined to respond to emails asking questions about his online persona.
And while Corcoran suggests he dislikes the N-word, he’s apparently comfortable with other slurs, a review of his social media reveals.
In 2021, Corcoran wrote, “I had some idiot respond to me, ‘What sort of person needs to spend $100K on a watch?’ Pissed me off to no end. I know, you know, and he knows that no one feels a NEED. They WANT to. And more power to them. People can spend on whatever they want. Using ‘need’ is a f*ggot move.”
In 2014, Corcoran tweeted, “You can say ‘the gay lifestyle is destructive’ w/o saying ‘disgusting f*ggots get diseases.’”
Corcoran’s troubling behavior online stretches back to his blog, where he defended the 2011 attempted assassination of Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords.
“I think that it is morally legitimate to kill pro-regulation senators and pro-regulation judges, if it can be done without harming innocents,” he wrote. (In fact, the shooter was schizophrenic and not motivated by partisan ideology.) When he made the comments, Corcoran was living in Massachusetts and working as a comic book dealer. He made national news when police followed up on his comments and seized a large cache of weapons from his home.
State GOP leaders, already dealing with the arrest of state Sen. Keith Murphy (R-Manchester) on assault charges, declined to respond to requests for comment. Several House members who spoke to NHJournal on background described Corcoran as “a bit full of himself.” And, one member noted, during the last session, a Hosue Democrat was heard shouting the N-word at a Black teen activist inside the State House.
Meanwhile, Corcoran has responded to the latest controversy online.
“Holy cow, I’m about to cross 2,500 followers….and by looking at the bios of the new followers, they’re all conservatives and libertarians,” Corcoran tweeted. “I’d like to thank all of the NH Dems who tweeted about me for making this possible.”
