Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Far-Right Candidate Thanks Bernice King for 'Motivating' His Latest Ad and She Was Having None of It

Far-Right Candidate Thanks Bernice King for 'Motivating' His Latest Ad and She Was Having None of It
Paras Griffin/Getty Images // Andrew Spear/Getty Images

In his latest ad, far-right Senate candidate Josh Mandel of Ohio has once again joined the chorus of conservative hysteria over critical race theory. The advanced academic framework examines how racist policies in the United States' past have contributed to racial inequalities today.

Conservatives, however, falsely insist that critical race theory is a socialist doctrine ubiquitously taught in secondary schools. They claim the theory teaches white people to feel ashamed of America's past and consider themselves oppressors. As a result, Republican governors have taken steps to ban tenets of critical race theory from being taught in schools or workplace diversity trainings. Republican members of Congress have grilled Supreme Court nominees and high-level Defense Department officials over the theory as well.


So it wasn't a surprise that Mandel expressed his opposition to critical race theory in an effort to gin up support from Republican voters—but he did it from Edmund Pettus Bridge.

In 1965, Black civil rights activists were going to march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol building in Montgomery, but—as they tried to cross Edmund Pettus Bridge—were met with brutal attacks from armed police, who beat and gassed the peaceful protesters in a gruesome display that would come to be known as "Bloody Sunday." A few weeks later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the protesters across the bridge and into Montgomery, where they called for the end of Black voter suppression.

Mandel's reason for coming to the Edmund Pettus Bridge was far less noble.

Mandel says in the ad:

"Martin Luther King marched right here so skin color wouldn't matter. I didn't do two tours in Anbar Province, fighting alongside Marines of every color to come home and be called a racist. There's nothing racist about stopping critical race theory and loving America."

Soon after its release, the Senate candidate publicly invoked Reverend Doctor Bernice King, Dr. King's daughter and the CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, claiming she "motivated" him to create the ad.

But King, who frequently calls out the misuse of her father's name and misrepresentation of his work, wasn't having any of it.

Mandel then proceeded to explain Dr. King to his daughter, somehow invoking the Second Amendment and telling King to study up on her history.

That led King to collect him once again.


People cheered her for defending her father's legacy.



Others decried Mandel for his audacity.






Yikes.

More from News

Lynda Carter; Screenshot of Donald Trump
Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images; Newsmax

Lynda Carter Hilariously Channels Wonder Woman In Response To Trump's Claim About 'Undetectable' Planes

After President Donald Trump touted the U.S. military's "stealth" planes that he described as "undetectable," Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter responded to his claim with a funny quip sure to delight fans of her iconic character.

Earlier, Trump boasted about the military's capabilities in remarks to reporters in the Oval Office amid heightened concerns about the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict that is sending shockwaves throughout the Middle East and around the world:

Keep ReadingShow less
red flag with pole on seashore
Seoyeon Choi on Unsplash

People Break Down The 'Silent Red Flags' Folks Tend To Ignore In Relationships

A red flag has come to mean any warning sign in life, in addition to the literal red flags that are placed on beaches or industrial sites to warn people of danger.

People will respond to situations by saying, "That’s a red flag." But before that language evolved, they'd just call them "warning signs."

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz; Tucker Carlson
The Tucker Carlson Show

Tucker Carlson And Ted Cruz Get Into Shouting Match Over Iran In Bonkers Interview Clip

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz—a harsh Donald Trump critic-turned-MAGA minion—sat down with fired Fox News personality Tucker Carlson for the conservative influencer's self-produced online content,The Tucker Carlson Show, for the Tucker Carlson Network.

On Tuesday, Carlson shared a 1.5-minute clip revealing that things got contentious when the pair touched on the Trump administration's escalating tensions with Iran.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Barack Obama
Suzanne Plunkett-Pool/Getty Images; Scott Olson/Getty Images

Resurfaced Trump Tweet Criticizing Obama Over Iran Comes Back To Bite Him

Amid tensions with Iran, President Donald Trump was criticized for hypocrisy after social media users resurfaced a 2013 tweet in which he accused former President Barack Obama of planning an attack on Iran because of his "inability to negotiate properly."

Trump has declined to clarify whether the U.S. is edging closer to launching strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, following a warning from Iran’s supreme leader against any attack and a rejection of Trump’s demand for surrender.

Keep ReadingShow less
​​Elon Musk
Allison Robbert/AFP via Getty Images

Anti-Elon Banner at Stanford

Stanford University graduates were given creative advice from above as an airplane flew over the graduation ceremony with a banner reading, “CONGRATS! DON’T WORK FOR ELON.”

The moment was captured last Sunday during the university’s 134th Commencement ceremony, where the Class of 2025 received their degrees at Stanford Stadium.

Keep ReadingShow less