The backlash for statements made two years ago has a school board candidate for Bowling Green City Schools deciding to withdraw from the race.

Rick Busselle posted on his campaign page earlier today that he was withdrawing from the school board race.

“The amount of hate that I was getting from everywhere, it was just too much,” Busselle said in a telephone interview.

He said his continuation in the race would be a problem for the district and he didn’t think there was any way he could get past the 2021 post.

In March 2021, he posted on his personal Facebook page a message to BG parents, telling them if their god didn’t support vaccine shots for their teenagers, they were risking the child’s health.

“Your god is an (expletive) and you should look for a better one,” he wrote.

“It was my fault, I posted that stuff, and I didn’t take it down and I brought it on myself,” he said today.

Busselle explained he has two family members who are immune compromised, and he was frightened about their risks if they got COVID.

“There was a lot of messaging from anti-masking and anti-vax people, and I was angry about it,” he explained. “I said what I said to my personal Facebook group … but I will always be honest and stand by science-based resolutions and solutions for health problems.”

The post on his campaign page on Facebook continued: “Ultimately, I am concerned for the safety of my family and myself. I cannot continue to be attacked with religious, homophobic, and, curiously, racist slurs from all corners of the English speaking world. I sincerely apologize to those I’ve disappointed.”