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SC Democrats call on their party's US Senate nominee to quit

The South Carolina Democrat vying to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is facing calls from within her own party to fold her campaign, following the publication of additional leaked audio in which she appears to make disparaging remarks about her constituents

Via AP news wire
Thursday 08 September 2022 23:28 BST
Election 2022 Senate South Carolina
Election 2022 Senate South Carolina (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

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The South Carolina Democrat vying to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is facing calls from within her own party to fold her campaign, following the publication of additional leaked audio in which she appears to make disparaging remarks about her constituents.

The calls for state Rep. Krystle Matthews to withdraw just two months ahead of the general election came Thursday in reaction to leaked audio published by conservative activist group Project Veritas of Matthews speaking to one of its members, without her knowledge.

Sitting in a restaurant, Matthews, who is Black, is heard saying that she represents a ā€œmostly whiteā€ district, adding, of white voters: ā€œI keep them right here ā€” like under my thumbs. ... Otherwise, they get out of control ā€” like kids.ā€

In a statement, Matthews acknowledged her voice on the recording, calling Project Veritas a ā€œsatirical MAGA Powered news outlet.ā€

The compilation also features more of Matthewsā€™ conversation, parts of which were previously published by Project Veritas, in which she spoke to an inmate about funding her campaign with ā€œdope boy moneyā€ and having Democrats run as Republicans, saying ā€œsecret sleepersā€ represent ā€œthe only way youā€™re gonna change the dynamics in South Carolina.ā€

At the time of the earlier release, ahead of South Carolinaā€™s June primary runoff, Matthews confirmed to The Associated Press that it was her voice on the tape but said the edited audio of a ā€œtongue-in-cheekā€ exchange didnā€™t reflect the full picture.

Matthews won the runoff to face Scott, who is seeking what heā€™s said will be his final Senate term and is among South Carolinaā€™s most popular politicians. The Black Republican is widely expected to win the general election in South Carolina, where no Democrat has won a statewide race in more than 15 years.

On Thursday, Democrats including gubernatorial nominee Joe Cunningham said he concurred with state Rep. Justin Bamberg, who in an op-ed published online called Matthews ā€œtoxic."

ā€œIf any of our white counterparts had said the same thing with regards to blacks, the minority community, including myself, would be up in arms calling for that memberā€™s immediate resignation," Bamberg added.

In a statement provided to AP, Cunningham said that ā€œthere is absolutely no place in our political discourseā€ for Matthews' comments, adding that ā€œthe Democratic Party cannot and should not tolerate such behavior from our elected officials and candidates.ā€

State Sen. Brad Hutto, Democratsā€™ leader in that chamber ā€” who was also his partyā€™s nominee to challenge U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2014 ā€” echoed Cunningham's comments about Matthews' Senate bid, telling AP, "When candidates of either party start making irresponsible statements, beyond what party theyā€™re from, they need to reevaluate their candidacy, and thatā€™s what needs to happen here.ā€

One of the fellow Democrats Matthews defeated, Catherine Fleming Bruce, told AP she agreed with the calls for Matthews to step aside, saying the nominee ā€œhas made it impossible for her to be that standard bearer, representing our stateā€™s diverse population.ā€

Trav Robertson, chairman of the state's Democrats, emphasized on Thursday that Matthews didn't represent the party's perspective but stopped short of urging her to quit her campaign, which he said was ā€œbecoming a distraction to other Democrats on the ballot.ā€

ā€œIf I were advising her campaign, I would focus on her getting reelected to the (state) House of Representatives," Robertson told AP.

Were Matthews to suspend her campaign, her name would likely still remain on ballots, which party officials said were already being produced for overseas voters. With no third-party candidate in the race, Scott's name is the only other that would appear.

ā€œRegardless of race, I love everyone,ā€ Matthews said in her statement. ā€œOne thing you can learn from Project Veritasā€™s first audio attack on me, is obviously I have no biases toward a certain ethnic group.ā€

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James Pollard contributed to this report.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

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