Mitchell comment falls flat with advocates for the disabled
MADISON - A group that advocates for people with disabilities is taking issue with a Democratic candidate for governor who during a Sunday forum compared himself to a movie character with developmental disabilities.
The reaction to state firefighters union president Mahlon Mitchell came as one of his opponents, former state Democratic Party Chairman Matt Flynn, told reporters that he had the ability to put $140,000 into his campaign because “most people didn’t work as hard as I did.”
On Sunday, four candidates seeking to unseat Gov. Scott Walker participated in a forum hosted by NextGen America at Milwaukee’s historic Pabst Brewery. During the event, the candidates were asked unconventional questions like which actor would portray each candidate in films.
On Mitchell’s turn, Mitchell said: “This is going to sound good or bad, I don’t know, but at the firehouse they say that Cuba Gooding Jr. would play me but when he played Radio.”
In 2003, Gooding Jr. portrayed James “Radio” Kennedy, a man with developmental disabilities who was befriended by a high school football coach in the 1960s. Kennedy earned his nickname because of his collection of radios.
Following Mitchell’s comment, the audience laughed and the other debate participants — state Schools Superintendent Tony Evers, Flynn and former state Rep. Kelda Roys — smiled or chuckled.
Beth Sweeden, executive director of Wisconsin’s Board for People with Developmental Disabilities, said Mitchell’s attempt at humor was not productive.
“Like all traditionally marginalized groups, people with developmental disabilities do not find humor at their expense to be productive or helpful to the broader community in better understanding their unique assets and abilities as well as their priorities and challenges,” Sweeden said Monday.
But Mitchell’s spokeswoman Kirsten Allen said Mitchell was not trying to make a joke, and was being serious. Mitchell did not laugh while responding to the question.
Walker on Monday in a tweet criticized Mitchell for the comment and highlighted workers with disabilities who have participated in a national program Walker and Democratic lawmakers have ramped up, which connects the state, local schools, service agencies for the disabled and employers.
Sunday’s comment comes after Mitchell has drawn scrutiny in recent months over his style of humor. Earlier this year, Mitchell kicked off a forum on transportation issues with a crude joke about defecating.
And earlier this month, Mitchell stopped short of using a racial slur while joking around with supporters in a video posted on his campaign Facebook account.
Sweeden said the disability community would rather hear “concrete answers to their questions about issues important to them: transportation, employment, the direct caregiver shortage, and adequate Medicaid and school funding.”
On those issues, Mitchell has said he would accept federal dollars to expand Medicaid and has called for changing the state’s formula for funding schools to provide schools with the highest number of students living in poverty and other challenges with more money to support those students.
Flynn ‘not apologizing for my money’
Meanwhile, Flynn on Monday de-
fended his work as a lawyer for the Milwaukee Archdiocese during its priest abuse scandal, railed against what he called elites and contended he was not elite himself, even though he was able to put $140,000 of his own money into the race.
“Most people didn’t work as hard as I did,” said Flynn, a retired partner with Quarles & Brady.
“Anybody who works as hard as I do and makes money, great, and if they don’t make money, that’s some bad breaks, so what? I’m not apologizing for my money. I made my money.”
Flynn released a short memo from former Archbishop Rembert Weakland that said “the lawyers were not involved” in decisions to provide therapy and transfer to other parishes priests who were accused of abuse. Weakland wrote that the church’s approach at the time was “extremely naïve.”
In response to the memo, the state Republican Party highlighted a 2003 letter from accused priest Marvin Knighton in which Knighton wrote that Flynn suggested in 1993 that Knighton wait to see if a complaint was filed against him and that he didn’t think the victim would do anything.
“Mr. Flynn told me that it would be too much of a hassle to do anything legally and most likely nothing would happen,” Knighton wrote. “How wrong was that?”
Flynn called the letter “baloney” that cannot be trusted because it was written by a “bad guy” 10 years after they talked. Flynn said he didn’t give Knighton any advice and told him to go to his own attorney because Flynn represented the archdiocese, not accused priests.
According to the archdiocese, accusations against Knighton were taken to prosecutors in 2002, nine years after Knighton said he met with Flynn. Knighton was charged with second-degree sexual assault of a child and acquitted by a jury.
He was later defrocked by the church and settlements were reached with two people who accused Knighton of sexual abuse, according to the archdiocese’s website.
The eight-way Democratic primary is Aug. 14.