GOP Senate Candidate Josh Mandel Spars With MLK Jr.’s Daughter, Bernice, Over Twitter, Calls Her a ‘Race Profiteer’

BY Todd Neikirk September 24, 2021

Josh Mandel, a former Ohio state treasurer, is trying to win the retiring Rob Portman’s senate seat in 2022. And thanks to his Trumpian brand of politics, Mandel has a commanding lead in the polls.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JANUARY 21: Dr. Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks onstage during the 2019 Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Commemorative Service at Ebenezer Baptist Church on January 21, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Mandel also has a habit of creating controversy out of thin air. Back in , he complimented a brew pub server for coming to work despite being sick. After backlash from the public, Mandel ended up in a feud with the brewery. And now, the Ohio Republican is engaging in a feud with Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.

The GOP candidate invoked the civil rights leader in a rant against critical race theory, tweeting, “By advancing the lie of Critical Race Theory, the liberals are stomping on the grave of Martin Luther King.”

Bernice King responded, “I invite you, if you truly desire to advance the cause of humanity toward true peace, to study my father’s teachings in full and in context. He was not a drum major for a colorblind society, but for justice, which requires truth about our past and present.”

Dear @JoshMandelOhio:

I invite you, if you truly desire to advance the cause of humanity toward true peace, to study my father’s teachings in full and in context.

He was not a drum major for a colorblind society, but for justice, which requires truth about our past and present. https://t.co/z9cmXv0hqQ

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) September 23, 2021

Mandel responded the only way he knows how, racistly. He wrote, “Spare me your lectures. 1. Critical Race Theory teaches kids to be racists. 2. Critical Race Theory stomps on the grave of Martin Luther King. 3. I’ll take me civil rights guidance from Alveda King. Not from race politics profiteers like yourself.”

Dear @BerniceKing,

Spare me your lectures.

1. Critical Race Theory teaches kids to be racists.

2. Critical Race Theory stomps on the grave of Martin Luther King.

3. I’ll take me civil rights guidance from @AlvedaCKing. Not from race politics profiteers like yourself. https://t.co/FOSyDdDBkd

— Josh Mandel (@JoshMandelOhio) September 23, 2021