Update (November 6, 2018): Oprah Winfrey has spoken her peace after being targeted by racist robocalls attempted to discredit her and Stacey Abrams. Her message for the white supremacists behind the calls? "Jesus don’t like ugly.”
“I heard people were making racist robocalls in my name, against Stacey Abrams, who I am 100 percent for in Georgia,” the media mogul said in a Monday Instagram post. “I just want to say, Jesus don’t like ugly. And we know what to do about that: Vote.”
Winfrey has been on the ground campaigning for the Georgia gubernatorial candidate, even making house calls to residents, encouraging them to vote. Abrams is slated to potentially make history as the first Black female governor in U.S. history on Tuesday.
Original: A white supremacist group connected to racist robocalls attacking Andrew Gillum have also attacked Stacey Abrams and Oprah.
While stomping for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate last week, Oprah was victim to robocalls funded by The Road to Power website.
Voters received calls from a voice claiming to be the media mogul, CNN reports. The recording, aimed at swaying voters away from Abrams, called Oprah a “magical Negro” and Abrams a “poor man’s Aunt Jemima.”
The unidentified voice claimed, “white women can be tricked into voting for [Abrams], especially the fat ones.” Abrams and her Republican challenger, Brian Kemp, have called these incendiary attacks "vile and bigoted."
“These automated calls are being sent into homes just days before President Trump arrives, reminding voters exactly who is promoting a political climate that celebrates this kind of vile, poisonous thinking,” said Abrams’ spokeswoman Abigail Collazo.
Kemp, who also serves as the state's Secretary of State, is at the center of a statewide voter suppression scandal targeting Black and brown voters.
As the Daily Beast notes, similar calls have been made to Florida voters in the highly contested gubernatorial race between Andrew Gillum and Ron DeSantis.
Abrams and Gillum are set to make history if elected this November. She will be the first Black woman to become governor in any state, and Gillum will be the first Black man to be governor of Florida.
“Georgia has long been on a path of change and evolution,” Abrams said during a campaign rally last week. She also said the election is about issues like expanding Medicaid insurance and focusing state spending on public education, job training and small business startups.
“I’m the only candidate with a plan to get that done and to do that without vitriol, without vilifying people,” she added.
The Guardian reports Kemp's camp issued a statement dismissing the racially charged tactic “contrary to the highest ideals of our state and country.” Kemp further condemned “any person or organization that peddles this type of unbridled hate and unapologetic bigotry.”
Now, check these out:
Andrew Gillum Shares His Plans For Progress In Florida And His Love For HBCUs
Trump Allegedly Said Black People Were 'Too Stupid' To Vote For Him
Judge Rules Brian Kemp Must Allow Georgians Flagged As 'Noncitizens' To Vote Days Before Election
