A Message From Orlando Watson
Communications Director for Black Media
Republican National Committee
On Thursday, a senior editor for EBONY, Jamilah Lemieux, attacked black conservatives on Twitter. One of our RNC staffers, Deputy Press Secretary Raffi Williams, tried to challenge her assumptions and called her out for her bias.
She responded by dismissing him as “a white dude.” (He’s black.) She then went on to refer to her detractors as “a house of roaches.” She said she had “no interest in this conversation.” “I wish I knew less” about black Republicans, she said.
On Friday morning, Chairman Reince Priebus sent a letter to EBONY asking for an apology for dismissing black Republicans and the validity of their opinions in public discourse.
Friday afternoon, EBONY responded with an apology posted on their website. The RNC appreciates and accepts their response, and Raffi has accepted their apology. Despite the actions of one editor, we’re glad to see EBONY embracing a higher standard of journalistic integrity.
As Chairman Priebus said, we hope “we can use this unfortunate episode as a catalyst for greater engagement and understanding between the Republican Party and black America.”
Friday morning, on Fox and Friends, the RNC’s Raffi Williams discussed what he thought of the repeated attacks on black conservatives and lack of journalistic objectivity from a senior editor at EBONY. You can watch HERE.
Additional Media Coverage Included:
BET: EBONY Sends Apology to RNC After Editor's Tweets Cause Firestorm
THE GRIO: EBONY magazine formally apologizes to RNC for Jamilah Lemieux tweet
POLITICO: EBONY apologizes to RNC
WASHINGTON POST: EBONY mag apologizes to RNC staffer for tweets of editor
NATIONAL REVIEW: EBONY Apologizes to RNC”s Williams
On #Twitter
In The News
Also this week, the Obama administration extended its health care sign-up deadline by two weeks for some. For many others Americans, the official March 31st deadline approaches. Zenitha Prince of The Afro covered the story: “Affordable Care Act Deadline Approaches.”
Here was my statement: “It’s been a broken promise, a broken website, lost jobs, lost plans, shrinking paychecks and rising prices,” said Orlando Watson… “Unfortunately, it won’t get any better as most uninsured Black Americans will be dumped into Medicaid. Also, the added cost to hiring someone will mean employers will hire fewer people and our community will bear the brunt of this.”
Nearly A Dozen Alabama Black Republicans Running For Office
Eleven black Republicans are on the ballot in Alabama’s June primary. The Alabama Republican Party says 11 black candidates are running in the GOP primary on June 3, and officials say that shows the party is making strides with African Americans. State Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead, who hired a full-time minority outreach director last year, said he thinks the GOP can build on the number. “It’s by far the largest we’ve ever had,” Armistead said. “Is it where we want to be? No. We will have more in the future.”
Republicans are favored to take back the Senate
As Democrats continue to suffer from the fallout of ObamaCare, Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight reports that Republicans are favored to take back the Senate. When FiveThirtyEight last issued a U.S. Senate forecast — way back in July — we concluded the race for Senate control was a toss-up. That was a little ahead of the conventional wisdom at the time, which characterized the Democrats as vulnerable but more likely than not to retain the chamber. Our new forecast goes a half-step further: We think the Republicans are now slight favorites to win at least six seats and capture the chamber. The Democrats’ position has deteriorated somewhat since last summer, with President Obama’s approval ratings down to 42 or 43 percent from an average of about 45 percent before. Furthermore, as compared with 2010 or 2012, the GOP has done a better job of recruiting credible candidates, with some exceptions.
With ObamaCare turning four years old this week, the RNC’s Research Department released a document highlighting how ObamaCare is adversely affecting millions of Americans.
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