A South Carolina woman vying for an open seat in the House of Representatives has reignited the debate over the Confederate flag, blasts acceptance of gays and doubles down on “Make America great again” in a series of ads that might be the most racist, homophobic and craziest campaign ever.
Sheri Few is one of seven Republican candidates running in the special election for South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District—a congressional seat vacated when Rep. Nick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) stepped down to join the Trump administration as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
In campaign ads and public appearances, Few has trumpeted her pro-Trump agenda, saying that she “will not only make America great again, but she will make America America again.”
I really don’t know what that means, because I’m black and the high-pitched racist dog-whistle politics are not meant for my ears, but I know it’s shady by the way the Caucasians in the crowd clap and nod their heads when she says it.
Few came out of the gate shooting at everybody. No, really—she literally opens her first campaign ad holding an AR-15 (the preferred weapon of school shooters and white separatists). After introducing herself, in her next ad, she just goes on an extended rant about liberal ideas, small government, Common Core, family values and all the other crazy things the people whose necks are the same color as Trump’s jowls believe are plaguing this country.
She peppers the video with the subliminal images of the terrible, terrible things that make wypipo want to throw up in their mouths: Barack Obama bowing to a Muslim leader; an Islamic State group beheading; a bulldozer removing a statue of Robert E. Lee; and a picture of a gay soldier. (How do we know the soldier is gay? The soldier has a rainbow patch on her uniform because, apparently, in Sheri Few’s America, homosexuality is a sin, but you can get a military medal for it.)
You can find a number of incidents in which Few speaks about her values, from talking about Michelle Obama not being a patriot to saying that young people want to destroy America by voting for Bernie Sanders, and that school systems are not teaching Christian values anymore.
But the pièce de résistance of Few’s wacky, conservative campaign is her repeated blasting of the politicians who voted to remove the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s Statehouse. That’s right. If you don’t believe her campaign should be called racist, consider this: Sheri Few is arguing for the rebel flag.
“I saw it as a very weak, politically correct move on behalf of the legislators and the governor,” said Few, throwing shade at her fellow GOP opponents, Ralph Norman and Tommy Pope. “My issue is more about history and total, not just the flag itself. I also know there are many people who fly the flag in their yards or have a symbol on their truck, and it’s not a racist symbol to them, it’s about their Southern heritage.”
Notwithstanding the fact that South Carolina is in the South and has its own flag (something the people arguing for “Southern heritage” never address), Few even dismissed the white supremacist with a Confederate flag who went into a church in her state and shot nine black people as they prayed, instead saying that the banner was removed because of political correctness. “Weak politicians are too quick to blame a horrible tragedy on a flag or a gun or even free speech, and that’s how bad laws are made,” Few said.
As you can imagine, the people at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church didn’t take too kindly to the politician’s inferences, issuing a statement that basically said, “Keep the Emanuel Nine’s names out of your mouth:
“To be very honest, the events of a racist committing murder is something that should never be utilized to advance someone’s political career,” said the Rev. Eric Manning, pastor of Emanuel AME Church, where Dylann Roof killed nine parishioners in June 2015.
“I want to make sure this community continues to know that Mother Emanuel will continue to speak out against injustices that we see throughout not only in this community, not only in this state, but dare I say the world,” said Manning. “But also to make sure to continue to make sure we protect the memory, the legacy of the Emanuel Nine, the survivors, the families and the church.”
While it may seem like there is no way this crackpot could win, in a seven-way race it is entirely conceivable that Few could get 20 percent of the vote—and become one of the representatives voting on health care and tax reform this year.
The special-election primary for South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District seat will be held May 2, and the final election will take place June 20.
God help us all.