GOP Kenner mayoral candidate comes under fire after joke mentioning fried chicken and Democrats [View all]
Some political observers allege a Republican Kenner mayoral hopeful was being racially insensitive when he publicly told a joke this week that mentioned fried chicken, left wings and Democrats. But the candidate and some others who heard the joke deny it was racist, saying the barb was simply a play on words attacking a rival political ideology.
At the center of the controversy is Kenner City Councilman Keith Reynaud, who participated Tuesday night in a cook-off hosted by the River Region Republican Women's organization to raise funds for a nonprofit that donates dictionaries to young students.
While introducing the fried pork loin dish he had prepared, Reynaud -- who is running for mayor in the Nov. 8 primary -- joked with the event's attendees that he would have made fried chicken and served only the left wings if they were all at a Democratic event, according to accounts from the councilman and others who were there.
In the crowd was Jefferson Parish Councilman Mark Spears, a black Democrat who represents a portion of Kenner and who had been invited to the event by council colleague Ben Zahn, another Republican candidate for mayor of Kenner.
Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/politics/article_f5b50664-59cb-11e6-b5af-4b5b673cb8f9.html
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