One of the candidates running for the highest role for this years’s elections, Benedict Wills, apologies over offensive tweets, saying that he has changed and he is now ‘the best he can be’.
The tweets include homophobic, transphobic and mysoginistic comments made during 2017 and 2018, on his now private Twitter account.
To promote his campaign before the elections, he made his account public – this let people track his tweeting history and discover the ‘incriminating’ comments.
Benedict will run to be the President of the SU this year’s elections, which is the highest profile-role candidates can apply for.
He spoke in an exclusive interview for Platform about what he felt like when he saw the tweets, how people responded to this and whether he thinks this will affect the upcoming SU elections.
He said: “I looked at it and I felt quite ill looking at myself. Did I really say that?
“Well I did, because it was on my Twitter, but I thought that’s almost disgusting, the fact that, that was from me.
“I cut that language out of my life”.
He then posted an apologetic tweet, where he agreed that what he did was wrong.
“I got a few people saying it was really kind of ‘grown-up thing to do’, to come forward and say “I’m sorry”.
“Because at the end of the day, I did something wrong and I can’t deny it.”
However, he argues that these comments belong in the past, as he they do not represent who he is now as an individual.
“I think people are very understanding as well, of the fact that it was said in the past.
“Hopefully people will realise that, that’s not me anymore –
“I’m kind of the best I can be.”
Asked how he thinks that this will affect the elections, Benedict said that “everything that we do at this point will affect the elections”.
He added: “To be honest, as long as people take away from it knowing that this is something I said in the past, nothing that I would ever say now…
“Obviously it’s going to affect the elections anyway, things always would, but there’s still a lot of positive feedback I’ve had from it.”
However, his tweets could not be ignored by members of the LGBTQ+ community, who think that Benedict still did not ‘learn his lesson’.
A source from NTU, who is also a trans woman and preferred to stay anonymous, said:
“I feel like Benedict doesn’t really understand what he has said or the impression he has made.
“He showed contrition for the tweets, but did not apologise for what he said, which is the most frustrating part.”
Our source told Platform that she felt ‘hurt’ after reading the tweets, as she is a member of the LGBTQ+ community herself.
She added: “I get that this is a growth moment for him, and I am happy to help him get there, but as a trans woman with a female partner I cannot overlook that he holds some frankly hurtful views.
“Everyone has the capacity to learn and grow, but I feel this does not excuse his homophobic, transphobic, and mysogynistic tweets, especially as he is running to represent NTSU which represents all students.”
The source from NTU said the ‘apologetic’ tweet Benedict has posted is not enough to make up for what he has done.
“I read through his ‘apology’ and if I recall he didn’t use the word apologise or say he was sorry.
“He has made his account private, so I cannot see any further tweets or his responses, which means I cannot respond about exactly what he has said.”
The SU has given a comment on this matter:
” We have been made aware of this issue.
“The role of the elections committee is to ensure a free and fair election, and we will continue to do so.
“We have raised the issue with the candidate who has responded as outlined in your article.
“We firmly believe that the decision on the elections should be down to the voters. “
The SU Elections voting opens at 9am on Monday 27th April.
You can see interviews with all candidates running for the President role here.
By Olimpia Zagnat