GOP gubernatorial challenger Eddie Rispone lashes out over a radio ad paid for by a New Orleans based political organization that compares Eddie Rispone with former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Rispone says the ad is offensive and says Governor Edwards needs to demand it to be retracted.
“He will do anything, comparing us to David Duke? They’re playing the race card again, it’s disgusting and he needs to do something about it, he can’t just continue down that path,” says Rispone.
The Edwards Campaign says they are not responsible for the ad.
But Black Organization for Leadership Development, the group that produced the radio isn’t backing down. BOLD Operations Chief Jay Banks says Rispone and Duke are peas in a pod.
“David Duke had a platform almost identical to what Eddie Rispone is running on now. Tell me what in those ads is not true?” says Banks, a New Orleans City Councilmember.
Banks doesn’t understand why Rispone is mad. He says Duke and Rispone are both anti-New Orleans and anti-Medicaid, but Rispone says it’s a dirty campaign season smear that reflects poorly on Governor Edwards.
“It’s disgusting, the Governor has to answer for that. Those are the kinds of things that are going on, he’s desperate and he is going to continue doing those kinds of things,” says Rispone.
But Banks, a New Orleans City Councilman, says Rispone has buddied up to the President and brought the President’s divisive style of racial politics to Louisiana.
“We certainly don’t want to disseminate misinformation, so if there is something in the ad that is not true, tell me what it is and we will correct it,” says Banks.
