Light rain this evening with thunderstorms developing overnight. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 74F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..
Light rain this evening with thunderstorms developing overnight. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 74F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
S.C. Rep. Krystle Matthews, D-Berkeley, is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. File
S.C. Rep. Krystle Matthews, D-Berkeley, is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. File
Two leading Democrats on the November ballot are advising the party's U.S. Senate candidate Krystle Matthews to drop out of the race after a conservative action group caught her speaking disparagingly of White people in an undercover video.
Both gubernatorial candidate Joe Cunningham and Lowcountry congressional candidate Annie Andrews said Matthews should end her bid after Project Veritas released their sting recording on Sept. 7.
"The Democratic Party cannot and should not tolerate such behavior from our elected officials and candidates and we must be consistent in calling out prejudice and hateful comments wherever it exists," Cunningham said in a media statement.
The recording, which is the second installment of Matthews' comments released by the group this season, is from a restaurant meeting she has with an unidentified figure in which she talks about interacting with White people. Matthews is Black.
"You gotta treat them like (expletive). I mean, that’s the only way they’ll respect you. I keep them right here — like under my thumbs. That’s where I keep — like, you have to. Otherwise, they get out of control — like kids,” Matthews is heard saying in one segment.
Another portion has her reportedly speaking ill about former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
"That was my problem with Bernie, because he was talking to an all-Black crowd, and he was afraid to say Black (expletive)," she says in the roughly two-minute recording, which includes additional outtakes from the conversation she had earlier with the prison inmate.
Project Veritas is a conservative action group with a history of running stings trying to catch liberal politicians, journalists and others speaking off-guard. Two months ago, the group disclosed an earlier recording of Matthews talking to a state prison inmate where she broaches questionable political fundraising tactics.
Matthews gave no indication she would drop out of the race challenging Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Tim Scott. Her campaign issued a lengthy statement calling on Veritas to disclose all its recording of her while describing herself as an unorthodox politician.
"Regardless of race, I love everyone," her note also said.
In a Charleston press conference, Project Veritas leader James O'Keefe said the recording was done recently but declined to answer questions about how the meeting was set up or who the interviewer was.
He called the recording of Matthews an accurate portrayal of her expressed views and not improperly edited.
Matthews this summer won the Democratic primary to challenge Scott. She simultaneously is seeking another term in the state House, defending her District 117 seat in Ladson against Republican challenger Jordan Pace.
She faces an uphill battle in the Senate race against Scott, a popular incumbent in overwhelmingly Republican South Carolina. Scott has raised tens of millions of dollars toward his re-election while Matthews' efforts have struggled.
After this second video was released, South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick issued a statement calling on her to resign, pointing to both her recording with a South Carolina prison inmate from earlier this year and the nature of the latest tape referencing White people.
"Radical socialist Krystle Matthews has made it clear she is unfit to hold public office," he said. "First, she called for 'dope boy money' and illegal straw donors to her U.S. Senate campaign, and now we hear her advocating for treating White people 'like (expletive)' or otherwise 'they get outta control like kids.'"
In the prison phone call recording, Matthews appeared to advocate for a number of questionable campaign tactics — including the acceptance of drug money to finance her campaign, the enlistment of "sleeper" candidates to run as Republicans and the stealing of opponents' yard signs — to defeat Republicans in November.
“Get you — find me somebody from your family that don’t even know you donating to my campaign and put that (expletive) under they names,” she said at one point on the call.
Matthews apologized after the expletive-laden jailhouse phone call between Matthews and David Solomon Ballard, an inmate at Perry Correctional Institution, was released. She said she regretted her language but also called on Republicans to examine their own alleged misdeeds ahead of the November midterms.
A Department of Corrections spokeswoman said prison phone calls involving inmates are considered public record, not protected privacy. The department, however, had no paperwork of someone requesting the recording.
The spokeswoman said law enforcement was made aware of some of the comments made in the discussion during the 43 minute call. No action has been announced.
Andrews, who is challenging Republican Nancy Mace in the 1st Congressional District, said the comments mean Matthews should step aside "for the good of her constituents."
State Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, who is a fellow member of the Statehouse's Legislative Black Caucus, also suggested she resign and drop out.
S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson said Matthews and the recordings have become "a distraction" affecting other 2022 Democrats running and the party's effort to protect abortion rights being targeted by Republicans in the Statehouse.
He said if he were advising her, he would prefer she focus on defending her Statehouse seat.
Reach Schuyler Kropf at 843-937-5551. Follow him on Twitter at @skropf47.
Schuyler Kropf is The Post and Courier political editor. He has covered every major political race in South Carolina dating to 1988, including for U.S. Senate, governorship, the Statehouse and Republican and Democratic presidential primaries.
The Post and Courier 148 Williman Street Charleston, SC 29403
News tips/online questions: newstips@postandcourier.com
Delivery/subscription questions: subserve@postandcourier.com
, Post and Courier, an Evening Post Publishing Newspaper Group. All rights reserved.