Sen. David Perdue makes fun of Kamala Harris’s name at Trump rally
Perdue has previously been criticized for using racist tactics in his campaign
Sen. David Perdue appeared to intentionally mock the first name of Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, Sen. Kamala Harris while speaking at a Georgia campaign rally for President Donald Trump.
Video at the Macon rally showed the senator pronouncing Harris’s name as: “Kamala, or Kamala, Kamala-mala-mala, I don’t know,” Perdue said, with emphasis on various parts of the name.
Perdue made the comments about Harris’ name while warming up the crowd before Trump took the stage. He included the names of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden and others during an attack of what he referred to as “radical socialism.”
Read More: The not-so-hidden racism behind mispronouncing Kamala Harris’s name
Jon Ossoff, who is Perdue’s opponent in the 2020 Georgia senate race, tweeted about his opponent, saying “We are so much better than this.”
In a statement, John Burke, Perdue’s campaign communications director said that Perdue simply mispronounced Sen. Harris’ name, and he didn’t mean anything by it.”
Burke continued, “He was making an argument against the radical socialist agenda that she and her endorsed candidate, Jon Ossoff are pushing, which includes the Green New Deal, Medicare-for-all, raising taxes, and holding up COVID relief for the people of Georgia.”
According to NBC News, Nikema Williams, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia criticized Perdue, calling the mispronunciation intentional.
“Senator Perdue’s intentionally disrespectful mispronunciation of Senator Harris’s name is a bigoted and racist tactic, straight from President Trump’s handbook,” Williams continued. “He owes Georgians an apology for his offensive display.”
This wasn’t the first time that Perdue has been criticized for using racist tactics in his campaign. Back in July he was called out for a digital campaign ad that featured an enhanced picture of Ossoff with an enlarged nose. Ossoff is Jewish.
Read More: Trump calls Kamala Harris ‘this monster’ during Fox interview
The Associated Press reported that after the ad was taken down, a spokesman for Perdue called it an “unintentional error” by an outside vendor.
Seeming to refer to the attack-ad incident in his tweet, Ossoff called his opponent, “GOP Senator David Perdue of anti-Semitic attack ad infamy.”
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