Anchorage Assemblyman Chris Constant is now offering conflicting explanations for his boorish behavior during a recent committee meeting, where he was caught on video appearing to mouth the words “F— you” to a member of the public who was waiting to testify.
Initially, Constant denied the accusation and claimed he was misunderstood. “Wow did that story take off — it was gaslighting of an extraordinary type,” he told the audience at the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday, insisting that he was not addressing the woman in the audience but was instead telling someone at the meeting that there was a seat “for you.”
Constant also explained on Tuesday about his abrupt departure from the prior week’s meeting, saying he received a text from his sister about his mother’s health. “That wasn’t going very well,” Constant said of his mother’s condition, and saying that is why he had to leave.
However, Must Read Alaska has obtained an email sent by Constant to a member of the public that contradicts his public explanation.
In that email, Constant wrote:
“I was due at another meeting 20 minutes prior to the moment that was shared on video. I was on my phone telling the people who I was late for my next meeting and that I was on my way. But cool. Be mad. I said nothing on my way out the door. That’s a great story people are sharing. Funny thing is, I have been lied about so often, it has no power anymore.”
The email, which we are publishing below in full, makes no mention of a family emergency or his mother’s health. Instead, it presents an entirely different reason for his departure: a scheduling conflict.
The woman who was the target of the profane comment had been waiting to speak during the public testimony portion of the committee meeting.
Constant, who chairs the Anchorage Assembly, has a history of contentious interactions with members of the public who disagree with him, and has special venom for the group Save Anchorage, who the woman is associated with.
The discrepancy between Constant’s email account and his public statement raises questions about whether he has been truthful about the incident — considering his hostile body language when he mouthed the expletive — and his now questionable motivations for walking out of the meeting.
Another view of Constant mouthing “F–U” can be seen at 1:29:55 time in this video:
