It’s no secret that our government system has no shortage of racist and bigoted politicians and lawmakers who aren’t afraid to share their bad tastes with the public. That said, Wyoming State Representative John Winter was recently preparing to visit the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center with a group of legislators. For those not in the know, the site was built to “preserve what remains of the World War II Japanese American confinement site” and the “14,000 people unjustly incarcerated” there. And Winter decided it was a good time to throw out a racial slur as a joke before departing to Heart Mountain.
In a Short uploaded to YouTube, you can see the Wyoming lawmaker making plans before everyone headed out. “There’s lunch at the student union if you care to indulge in that. And we need to…if you’re going to go to the ‘Jap camp,’ that’s what I call it, we need to leave here by about 12:30 pm.” “Jap” was a common slur used by Americans during and after WWII, as they were the US’s enemies at one time. However, although the war has long been passed, some people still think it is right or even funny to use it. Winter made a big smile and even laughed after publicly saying the word, even though no one joined him.
“It’s unfortunate that now, in 2025, we still hear language like this,” the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center said after hearing of Winter’s comment, per WyoFile. “Rep. Winter should become better educated,” one of the site’s board members stated. Internet users reacting to the story remark how they, too, didn’t know that “Jap” was a bad slur to use. However, several weren’t buying that Winter wasn’t in the know: “Trust me, a Republican lawmaker knows that word. Republicans know all the “best” words,” a commenter says. “The fact that he paused before saying it is very telling,” another adds.
“Maybe we need to stop electing old fart white men with dementia to run our country 🤔,” ponders a user. “You mean DEI?” a person replied. “Dementia, Erectile Dysfunction, & Incontinence? That proves Trump was a DEI hire,” joked a third. Disdain for the POTUS aside, it was clear that the Wyoming State Representative knew better but still chose to make a remark in poor taste publicly anyway. Hopefully, the backlash will make him at least ashamed of what he said and perhaps even lead to an apology.
