This lesbian political candidate told a ton of lies about saving Pulse shooting victims / Queerty

Yikes. While running her campaign for Florida’s House of Representatives, 50-year-old gay candidate Elizabeth McCarthy apparently lied about working as a cardiologist and helping remove “77 bullets out of 32 people” the night of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting.

An investigation into her credentials by the Florida Department of Health found that contrary to her public statements, she was never a doctor, she never got her bachelor’s degree from Florida State, she wasn’t working at the Orlando Regional Medical Center on the night of the shooting, she never worked at the Florida Heart Group of Orlando and she never earned a medical degree from the University of Central Florida in 2014.

She also lied about being a college athlete, according to FloridaPolitics.com:

“McCarthy drew some Florida sports cross-rivalry respect by regaling that she was a point guard on the University of Florida women’s basketball teams of 1989 and ’90, and then transferred to Florida State, where she played the point for the Seminoles in 1991-92. However, both the UF and FSU athletic departments said they have no records of anyone by that name ever playing for the Gators or the Seminoles.”

When first pressed about her story, McCarthy said, “Yes, I was working that night. I removed 77 bullets out of 32 people, and helped with the triage. It is really sad that this has become such a big deal.”

She added, “It hurts me; it really does. First of all, why would I make something like this up? Whoever is saying [that I didn’t do these things], their credibility will fall … once the truth comes out.”

She even released a long Facebook post calling the accusations “campaign smears.”

Related: Madonna’s new music video has fans divided over its reimagining of the Pulse nightclub shooting

“It is a false statement. I just made it up,” she told investigators in an affidavit. She withdrew from her political race last June when accusations of her lying became widespread.

McCarthy said she was “portraying a life that wasn’t true,” and added, “I wanted to be somebody in the community, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I gave any impersonation. I knew it was wrong and I should have stopped — by no means did I ever mean to put anybody in jeopardy.”

She has been charged with a third-degree felony for lying about being a doctor and is being fined $3,094.95 and given a cease-and-desist order to stop lying. She has 30 days to dispute the charge and seek a hearing. Something tells us she won’t.

Source: Queerty.com

Powered by NewsAPI.org

Keywords:

Lesbian • 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting • Queerty • Florida • United States House of Representatives • Gay • Liz McCarthy (fighter) • Cardiology • 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting • Florida Department of Health • Doctorate • Bachelor's degree • Florida State University • Orlando Regional Medical Center • Orlando, Florida • University of Central Florida • College athletics • College rivalry • Point guard • University of Florida • Connecticut Huskies women's basketball • Florida State Seminoles football • Florida State Seminoles • University of Florida • Florida State University • College athletics • Florida Gators football • Florida State Seminoles • Triage • Facebook • Smear campaign • Madonna (entertainer) • Music video • 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting • Affidavit • Racism • Jeopardy! • Felony •