A press call with Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) turned into a total “disaster” after someone dialed in and asked why it’s OK for the Republican to “harvest” black votes like black people harvesting cotton.
(Scroll down for important update)
The bizarre call is the latest development in a controversial saga out of Mississippi where Cochran defeated tea party-backed Chris McDaniel in a recent GOP runoff election by reaching out to black voters and allegedly painting his opponent as a racist. The McDaniel camp is currently trying to call the results of the election into question.
Chaos reported erupted after freelance journalist Charles Johnson invited his Twitter followers to “crash” the call with him:
Press conference details... Crash it with me in fifteen minutes? Call is 3 PM CST Tuesday Call in number: 530-881-1000. PIN: 287517# #mssen— Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson) July 2, 2014
Then things got out of control, according to people who were on the call:
Cochran campaign conf call turning into a mess. Questioner: "If black people were harvesting cotton, why is it OK to harvest their votes?"
— Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) July 2, 2014
And the Cochran press conference devolves into lunacy… Sadly reflects most of #MSSen— Sam R. Hall (@samrhall) July 2, 2014
This Cochran press conference call has turned into a disaster
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 2, 2014
This #MSSen Cochran press call is totally bizarre.
— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) July 2, 2014
And Cochran call now has Dick Cheney soundboard going too . . .
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 2, 2014
Cochran call now has a clip of an Obama impersonator talking about white people
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 2, 2014
Cochran campaign had no idea that the call was still going for so long once they ended it and now getting it cut off
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 2, 2014
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UPDATE: Talking Points Memo has obtained the audio from the press call.
(H/T: Mediaite)
