Idaho state senator 'spews hateful six-word message' at Native American Democratic candidate that left her shaken: 'I was scared'

Just weeks ahead of one of America's most polarizing elections, a Republican state senator has ignited mass-outrage after allegedly hurling a jaw-dropping hateful message at his Native American opponent during a recent bipartisan forum. 

The event, held in Idaho, was later deemed 'a quintessential display of race-baiting,' by the now-disgraced senator who was heard angrily yelling at his Democratic opponent to 'go back where you came from,' following an audience question regarding discrimination.

Senator Dan Foreman, 71, left the event early after the outburst and later denied making any racist comments in a Facebook post that attacked the event's validity calling it a 'so-called political forum.'

Foreman's opponent, Trish Carter-Goodheart, the Democratic candidate for the House District 6 seat and member of the Nez Perce Tribe, also took to Facebook after the event sharing that the blowup left her shaken and that she was 'still processing the hurtful events of recent days.' 

The incident happened about an hour into the September 30 event - held by Democratic and Republican precinct committee members from the small north-Idaho town of Kendrick.

The provoking question addressed a state bill about discrimination, to which Carter-Goodheart pushed back on earlier comments that suggested discrimination is not a major issue in the 'potato state.'

She said state hate crime laws are weak and noted that the neo-nazi group Aryan Nations made northern Idaho its home base for many years. 

She also talked about being the only candidate at the bipartisan event who was a person of color.

'I pointed out that just because someone hasn't personally experienced discrimination doesn't mean it's not happening,' she said. 

'I was making my statement, and then he shot up out of his seat and said, 'I'm so sick of your liberal b*llsh*t! Why don't you go back to where you came from?'

Foreman later defended his alleged actions on social media, naming his opponents as 'far-left socialist democrats.'

'Aided by an event moderator who allowed them to make blatant personal attacks on the Republican attendees in direct violation of the forum rules, they interspersed their specious claims of racism with their stereotypical support for murdering unborn babies in the womb and mutilating our youth as part of their transgender movement,' the post reads.

The 71-year-old also claimed: 'There is no systemic racism in America or Idaho. Idaho is a great state - the best in the Union!' 

Carter-Goodheart, who looks to unseat the incumbent who earned the role in 2022, described her account of the incident: 'It was like slow motion,' she said. 

'I just remember thinking, `Go back to where you came from´? That's within miles of where this forum is taking place. We have literal plots of land that are being leased out to family farms near by.'

The Nez Perce Tribe has lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest for more than 11,500 years, including the area where Kendrick is located. 

The northern edge of its reservation, while only a small fraction of the tribe's historical territory, is less than 10 miles from the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall where the forum was held.

Julia Parker and Rep. Lori McCann, two other candidates in attendance, recalled the clash and said that Foreman stood up and yelled after Carter-Goodheart's response.

'I stood up and faced [Foreman] and tried to defuse what was going on,' Parker recalled.

McCann added that Carter-Goodheart's description of the incident matched her own recollection.

The event continued for about 20 minutes after Foreman left. Carter-Goodheart said she found herself watching the only door, worried he would come back.

The incident also forced some tough conversations for the mother-of-two as her young daughters were in attendance.

'Having conversations about racism with an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old is not something me and my husband Dane were prepared for,' she said on Facebook.

'They've never seen a grown adult man have a meltdown like that. They were scared. I was scared,' she added.

More candidate forums are planned in coming weeks leaving the senate-hopeful questioning the need for at future public events.

Organizers for an upcoming League of Women Voters event emailed Carter-Goodheart after the event to inform her that police would be there as a precaution, adding the Idaho Secretary of State's Office offered guidance about security measures her campaign can pay for.

'We've been told it's not a bad idea to get security,' she said. 

'And we need to have honest discussions about race and discrimination and the inequalities and disparities that exist not only in Idaho but across the country.'

The confrontation comes just weeks before what has been a very polarizing election cycle in the US set to close on Election Day, November 5.