Rep. Clarke Denies Racism Charge Over Flyer

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — An already-heated campaign for a Brooklyn congressional seat turned volcanic as Rep. Yvette Clarke faced accusations she sent out a racist mailer — a charge her campaign denied.

One of Clarke's Black opponents — Adem Bunkeddeko — claimed Thursday that a Clarke campaign mailer darkened his face and made a false accusation about a Jewish donor based on the donor's last name.

The mailer plays on racist and anti-Semitic tropes, Bunkeddeko's campaign claimed.

“This is despicable," Bunkeddeko said in a statement. "She needs to apologize to me and every single one of her constituents. At a time when we’re rising up to say Black Lives Matter, and demanding overdue reforms, recreating the type of campaign attacks that have been used for generations of fear-mongering is inexcusable."

Clarke, who is black, faces Bunkeddeko, housing organizer Isiah James, city Council Member Chaim Deutsch and Lutchi Gayot in the Democratic primary on June 23.

Her senior advisor L. Joy Williams denied Bunkeddeko's accusation.

"To suggest that our campaign for a Black woman, run by Black women would deliberately darken a Black man’s face is preposterous," Williams wrote in a statement. "I’m personally offended at the accusation and clearly Bunkeddeko's campaign is grasping at straws by attempting to spark division when the focus should be on the very real issues of structural racism plaguing our society. Congresswoman Clarke has a longstanding record of leadership calling out how structural racism impacts the daily lives of her constituents and people of the African diaspora overall."

Clarke narrowly defeated Bunkeddeko in the 2018 primary.