A defiant Fani Willis appears to call out her critics in Trump case in speech at Black church
Source: AP
Updated 3:45 PM EDT, June 13, 2024
MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — Fani Willis called out her critics in a defiant speech Thursday at a Black church outside Atlanta, not naming names but appearing to refer to Donald Trump and others who have attacked the Georgia prosecutor’s investigation of the former president’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.
Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, obtained an indictment last year against Trump and 18 of his allies. She has faced months of criticism over her handling of the case — with some of the attacks playing on racist or sexist tropes — as well as for hiring a special prosecutor, now off the case, with whom she had a romantic relationship.
Speaking to a gathering of Black church clergy and congregants, Willis said friends often express concern for her. “I live the experience of a Black woman who is attacked and oversexualized,” she said. “See, I’m so tired of hearing these idiots call my name as ‘fanny’ in a way to attempt to humiliate me because, like silly school boys, the name reminds them of a woman’s rear, of her behind.”
Trump has used that pronunciation to mock Willis — whose first name is pronounced FAH'-nee — notably during a rally in Ohio in March when he said “fanny, like your ass,” when talking about her name. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Willis said her father, “a strong, educated, conscious Black man,” gave her the name Fani Taifa, which she said means “prosperous people” in Swahili.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/fani-willis-trump-georgia-election-indictment-f7809f0c9c19efa026d976cab95c9a03
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