FOLLOWER’S ACTIONS
Diatribe against GOP candidate
standing up there giving hugs? She went on a 40-minute racial tirade about my family.”
Campbell repeated some of the racial slurs invoked by Cannon-Grant in the video.
Kennedy ignored Campbell, waiting for police to escort her to the back of the crowd before beginning his speech in which he attacked Markey’s record on racial issues.
Kennedy left quickly after speaking without taking any questions from reporters.
Cannon-Grant, who’s also Black, took issue in her video with Campbell’s run against Pressley. CannonGrant said that Black women should defend fellow Black women like Pressley, particularly against white opposition.
Campbell, who’s running a write-in campaign to get on the November ballot, said she wants an apology from Cannon-Grant. Campbell said she was alerted to the press conference by Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins.
Cannon-Grant, who runs an anti-violence nonprofit called Violence in Boston, posted on that organization’s Facebook page a statement criticizing coverage of her diatribe, but saying, “I do wish I had been more careful with my words.”
It was an “un-apology video,” Campbell said, calling on Kennedy and other elected officials to disavow Cannon-Grant’s comments.
“Kennedy hasn’t reached out to me and neither has she. Ayanna Pressley has said nothing, the mayor — where are they? They’re hiding. They’re all sticking their heads in the sand,” Campbell said.
Kennedy campaign spokesman Michael Cummings
clapped back Monday, saying, “Monica has said multiple times that she should have been more careful with her words. Few have fought longer and harder on the forefront of racial justice in Boston.”
Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons called Kennedy “hypocritical” for allowing Cannon-Grant an active role in his campaign.
Republican Senate contender Kevin O’Connor agreed.
“Instead of denouncing her, he stood in solidarity with her and effectively endorsed her hate speech. He knows what she said and he never distanced himself from her,” O’Connor said.
Kennedy’s event came on the heels of last week’s fiery debate against Markey and one day before the rivals’ final stand-off before the Sept. 1 primary.