Agriculture Sec. Sonny Perdue: Florida governor's race 'so cotton-pickin' important'

[jpak]

Source: CNN

(CNN) Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue described the stakes of the Florida governor's election next week as being "cotton-pickin' important" at a campaign event on Saturday for Republican Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis is running against Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who is African American.

"Public policy matters. Leadership matters. And that is why this election is so cotton-pickin' important to the state of Florida," Perdue, a former governor of Georgia, told supporters in Lakeland. "I hope you all don't mess it up."

DeSantis' campaign did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment on Perdue's statement. In an email to Politico, which first reported the comments, a DeSantis spokesman said, "We were happy to have (Perdue) in Polk County campaigning with us," but referred any questions to the secretary's office.

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Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/04/politics/sonny-perdue-cotton-pickin-florida-governor-andrew-gillum-ron-desantis/index.html

[spooky3]

1. No, that's not racist at all.

[shanny]

2. jaysus H

I'm surprised he didn't add, "I hope you all don't monkey it up." You know he was thinking it. Pig (apologies to pigs).

[7962]

3. I'm not getting worked up over this nonsense.

Pretty much every adult around me when I was growing up said this instead of "goddamn". Which I would hear if they didnt know a kid was around. Many a time my dad would catch himself if we were at his parents. Heard "godcotton-pickin'" too many times to count.

[efhmc]

4. Here in Texas heard it all the time also.

nt

[Journeyman]

9. It was a staple in Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes cartoons throughout my youth . . .

Can't say I ever associated it with actually picking cotton. It was just a declarative phrase, a sort of faux profanity, more an expletive than an insult.

[Scruffy1]

10. At first blush I felt the same way.

But after reflection I got to thinking this guy is a professional politician who is used to very carefully chosing his words before he speaks. he chose to use that phrase in all probability because he could put in a little bit of racism without taking much heat. At any rate he's a complete asshle, anyway. Nothing new.

[Flaleftist]

5. JFC. How long before they just start using the N word in public?

[Funtatlaguy]

6. Lawdy lawdy. Ize not no racist

[TomCADem]

7. Remember. For the Republican Base, the Racism is a Feature Not A Bug...

...while we might find this appalling, a large segment of the Republican base loves the racist references.

[Chemisse]

8. While the phrase itself was not racist in origin or in its once-popular use,

if in a comment that is aimed at a black person it definitely takes on a racist meaning, simply because of the history of AAs in this country.

He may think he's flying under the radar because of its common use (I found an interesting history of the phrase here:
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/cotton-picking.html) but no, he is clearly reminding everyone that his opponent is the descendant of slaves.

Sickening.

[Xipe Totec]

11. That's not a dog whistle, that's a fog horn nt

[Warren_Pointe]

12. Who even uses that phrase anymore?!

Just up and say "forkin' important", ya squirrel.

[Nitram]

13. That's such a blatant dog whistle he could just as well said don't vote for the .....

[tclambert]

14. I'm sure he's sorry he sounded racist. Republicans are always sorry when they sound racist.

They're never sorry for BEING racist, of course. They just don't want to SOUND like it.