The backlash over Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) disdainfully mocking Sen. Kamala Harris’ (D-CA) first name during President Trump’s campaign rally on Friday quickly went from the political arena to the world of poultry over the weekend.
The Twitter account of Perdue Chicken — the Maryland-based poultry giant that is unaffiliated with the Georgia senator — spent the weekend, and even Monday morning, responding to angry comments by reminding people that they’re just a chicken company.
Sen. Perdue’s campaign dismissed the backlash by saying in a statement released on Friday that the lawmaker had “simply mispronounced Sen. Harris’s name, and he didn’t mean anything by it.”
Perdue, who has served in the Senate with Harris for several years, further brushed off the controversy on Saturday by telling reporters that he meant “absolutely no disrespect” to Biden’s VP pick, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
By Sunday evening, Perdue’s Democratic rival Jon Ossoff raised more than $1.8 million from at least 42,000 donors since Perdue’s racist gambit, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Twitter account for Perdue Chicken spent the weekend responding to users who called for a boycott of the poultry brand over the Georgia senator’s effort to otherize Harris — who he referred to as “Kamala, -mala, -mala, I don’t know, whatever” to jeers of laughter from Trump supporters — by assuring them that the brand has no affiliation with the lawmaker.
“I can assure you that David Perdue has no affiliation with the Perdue brand,” read the company’s replies over the weekend.
Perdue Chicken did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment.
It's been a busy morning for the good people at @PerdueChicken pic.twitter.com/dNANe7mtKe
— Dave Brown (@dave_brown24) October 17, 2020
The Twitter account for Perdue Chicken has continued clarifying for users critical of the Georgia senator’s mockery of Harris as recently as Monday morning.
Hi! We are in no relation to David Perdue here at Perdue Chicken! So glad we could clear that up! ~Alexa
— Perdue Chicken (@PerdueChicken) October 19, 2020
Hi There! We are in no relation to David Perdue here at Perdue Chicken! We're a 4th generation, family owned poultry company. Glad we could clear that up. ~Alexa
— Perdue Chicken (@PerdueChicken) October 18, 2020
Hi There! We are in no way connected to David Perdue. Thanks! ~Alexa
— Perdue Chicken (@PerdueChicken) October 18, 2020
Hi There! I am happy to advise we are in no way affiliated with David Perdue. Thanks! ~Alexa
— Perdue Chicken (@PerdueChicken) October 18, 2020
I really can’t wait for this whole period in our history to be over.
Sadly this bothers me. Too many people on BOTH SIDES rush to judgment and include shit in their outrage that only takes you know a few minutes to find out if they are even related. Just bothers me how so little education people do on the internet. Just a pet peeve. Hell I still the NY Post article is bullshit but before I go off on it i started digging around trying to find evidence real evidence of anything. It takes a few searches to educate . .sigh . .
Poor Alexa on Perdue’s social media account, Not only did she have to clarify about1000 times they are not related to the senator, she probably hears smart speaker jokes all day. “Alexa, what’s the weather forecast for next Thursday?”
Meanwhile, my alma mater in red state Indiana has seen a surge in donations.
In retrospect, maybe “we should create a product whose sole purpose is to broadcast to the entire world your thoughts that you spent no more than five seconds considering” was a bad pitch.