Progress Kentucky, a super PAC allied with the Democrats, has been pressured into apologizing for several racially charged tweets against Elaine Chao, the wife of US Senator Mitch McConnell.
Elaine Chao is the distinguished former US Secretary of Labor. She is of Chinese heritage and was born in Taiwan.
The offensive Progress Kentucky tweets accused Chao in effect of outsourcing jobs to China and of buying elections.
Mitch McConnell is running for reelection in 2014 (and possibly to be opposed by actress Ashley Judd for the Kentucky Senate seat), and the McConnell campaign had this to say about the offensive, race-based tweets according to The Hill :
“Secretary Chao and her family are shining examples of the American Dream: salt-of-the-earth folks who escaped oppression, came here with nothing, joined our great melting pot, worked exceptionally hard to build a thriving business, and then dedicated so much of their lives to giving back.”
“It is unconscionable that anyone would use blatant race-baiting for political gain. Progress Kentucky should be ashamed of themselves.”
Even Ashley Judd weighed in herself with the following tweet:
“Whatever the intention, whatever the venue, whomever the person, attacks or comments on anyone’s ethnicity are wrong & patently unacceptable.”
After a lot of pressure was put on Progress Kentucky from other Democrats, the organization grudgingly issued an apology according to WFPL in Louisville:
“We apologize to the secretary for that unnecessary comment and have deleted the tweets in question. In addition, we have put a review process in place to ensure tweets and other social media communications from Progress Kentucky are reviewed and approved prior to posting.”
McConnell, the longest serving US Senator in Kentucky history (first elected in 1984), has been the Minority Leader for the Republicans since 2007. Elaine Chao and Mitch McConnell have been married since 1993.
What do you think of liberal Democrat groups bringing up a spouse’s ethnic heritage in a political campaign?
