Photo: Getty Images
The Wisconsin Republican Party is facing backlash after mistakenly using the photo of one Black gubernatorial candidate while attacking another in a social media post, per theGrio.
On Monday (January 12), the state GOP posted a political attack targeting Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mandela Barnes, Wisconsin’s former lieutenant governor. The post accused Barnes and State Assemblywoman Francesca Hong of pushing “radical progressive” policies such as defunding the police, raising property taxes, and “bringing socialism to Wisconsin.”
However, while the text named Barnes, the graphic paired Hong’s image with a photo of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, another Black Democrat running in the August 11 primary for governor.
The Wisconsin Republican Party later deleted the post and replaced the image with a photo of Barnes, but not before Democrats called out the mistake.
“The Wisconsin GOP is literally racist,” Chris Walton, former chairman of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party, said. “They can’t tell the difference between two Black guys who literally look nothing alike?”
In a statement, Barnes responded to the mix-up, saying, “Apparently ‘Black guy in Wisconsin’ was close enough for Tom Tiffany and Wisconsin Republicans who were too busy raising our healthcare costs to tell the difference.”
“What do you expect? This isn’t new,” Crowley said. “Even if it’s an honest mistake… it shows that if folks can’t tell who the candidates in this race are and who they’re attacking, how can you believe in them being able to govern for the diverse communities that we have all across Wisconsin?”
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