A conservative, Mississippi Senate challenger’s past remarks on race, homosexuality, slavery and women are coming back to haunt him.
Opponents of Chris McDaniel – a state senator and former radio host – are surfacing shocking audio from late 2006 or early 2007. McDaniel, a Tea Party favorite, is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Thad Cochran in a June 3 GOP primary.
During a radio program, McDaniel was asked about reparations for slavery. The 41-year-old attorney said: “If they pass reparations and my taxes are going up, I ain’t paying taxes.”
On illegal immigration to the United States, McDaniel said “millions of illegals [are] pouring across the border” wanting citizenship will “want theirs.”
During a conversation on when to refer to a women as “mamacitas,” he said: “I'm an English-speaking Anglo. I have no idea what it means, actually, but I've said it a few times, just for, you know, fun. And I think it basically means, 'Hey, hot mama.' Or, you know, 'You're a fine looking young thing.'"
He also griped about criticism over an ad showing a white woman holding down a black woman while wrestling. "There's a white woman, and she's holding down a black woman. The world's gone nuts. Listen to this. Minority groups in California screaming that the image is racist. San Francisco politician Tom LeLand says 'It's racially charged, unnecessary and clearly offensive to our community.' Well, she wasn't holding down a gay guy."
The audio was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
McDaniel’s spokesman, Noel Fritsch, told NBC News that the "the liberal press clearly loves to attack conservatives of all types. When Chris got into this race he knew they would throw mud, so it's no surprise they'd dredge up decade old comments made on conservative talk radio.”
Meanwhile, a new poll by Republican Firm Harper Polling shows Cochran with a solid lead against McDaniel by a 52% to 35% margin. But the survey indicates McDaniel is picking up steam. Back in December, Cochran had a 24 point lead over McDaniel compared to 17 points now.