Did Abby Broyles verbally accost kids at Valentine's party?
Abby Broyles is a Democratic U.S. House candidate in Oklahoma. While attending a Valentine's sleepover for some preteen age girls, Broyles allegedly became drunk and berated some of the children. Broyles responded to allegations with the following statement which was posted on Nondoc.com on February 17, 2022:
"I saw the tweets. I have been out of town on a fundraising trip, and they are awful and offensive and false. I mean, I get trolled on Twitter all the time, but I don't know these women and I don't know what is behind this, but it's just not true."
Broyles wants us to believe she did not attend the party. She alludes to this by saying, "I have been out of town on a fundraising trip." That is probably a truthful statement. She probably was doing some fundraising. However, she does not mention the dates she was out of town. She does not specifically state, "I was not at the party."
The phrase "I mean" is used to clarify or to correct a statement. Is Broyles clarifying or correcting her statement she was out of town?
Broyles used the word "just" in denying the story is not true. There are several ways you can use the word "just." It is most commonly used to minimize things. Saying, "I just went to McDonalds" indicates the person may have gone also gone somewhere else. Is Broyles minimizing the truthfulness of the allegations?
We also see Broyles does not specifically deny berating these girls. She only states the tweets are "offensive and false" and that they are "just not true." A good denial is when the person denys the act by saying, "I didn't do it."
Based on her language, we can conclude Broyles did attend the party and did criticize the girls.
Update
One day after Nondoc published their article, Abby Broyles gave an interview with KFOR and admitted that she attended the Valentine's Day party. She claimed that some medication she was given combined with drinking wine caused her to hallucinate "and the rest is just blurry." When asked why she originally denied being at the party, Broyles responded by saying,
"Well, I was misquoted in the Nondoc article. I never told them - this was on a phone call - and I never told them that I wasn't there. I said it didn't happen because he was asking about these allegations. And I had no idea because, again, I don't remember this episode at all."
Again, we see deception in her statement. The use of the word "never" in a denial slightly weakens the denial. The better denial is to say, "I didn't tell them I wasn't there."
Rarely can a person honestly say, "I had no idea." People have an idea or an opinion on just about everything.
At the end of her statement, we find the words "at all." These words are not needed. Saying, "I don't remember this episode" is all that needs to be said. People sometimes add the words "at all" to convince us they are being truthful.
As for the Nondoc.com article in which Broyles says she was misquoted, KFOR contacted Nondoc. Nondoc allowed KFOR to listen to the taped conversation where Broyles denied being at the party on the night in question.
Update
In March 2022, Abby Broyles ended her campaign to run for Congress.