Kentucky gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron and other black Republicans "sold their souls" to the devil and work to keep other black people "in check," a liberal columnist argued.
In his Tuesday piece titled "Daniel Cameron and his 'anti-woke' conservative comrades want you asleep," Louisville Courier Journal columnist and University of Louisville professor Ricky Jones compared Cameron to "Black slaves who were loyal to their masters" and said that "trusting people like Daniel Cameron just because of his melanin level can be deadly." Jones also accused Cameron and other black Republicans of selling their soul to "Old Scratch," a nickname for the devil.
"Politically mature Black people no longer support so-called successful Black people, political candidates like Daniel Cameron and new presidential hopeful Tim Scott," Jones wrote. "They know some of these people have sold their souls to 'Old Scratch' and work overtime to make the existing racial power structure comfortable by ensuring, 'I may look like them, but I'm not like them, and I will help you keep them in check.' That's the Faustian pact they have made in exchange for their individual good fortunes."
Jones is the second Courier Journal columnist to attack Cameron as anti-black in a matter of days. Last week, the outlet's Joseph Gerth accused Cameron of working against "what the vast majority of Black people believe" and argued that Kentucky Republicans who backed Cameron as the party's gubernatorial nominee still could have voted with "racism or racist intent."
"The fact that Republicans were willing to nominate a Black man for governor doesn't mean they aren't racists," Gerth wrote. "It simply means they are willing to nominate a Black man who acts as if racism doesn't exist."
Cameron in 2019 became the first black man independently elected statewide in Kentucky, defeating Democrat Greg Stumbo by 15 points in a lopsided attorney general race. Four years later, the Republican is running to unseat Kentucky Democratic governor Andy Beshear. Cameron earlier this month cruised to the GOP nomination, carrying 47 percent of the vote in a crowded primary field that included 12 candidates.
In addition to his criticism of Cameron, Jones—who did not return a request for comment—vehemently defended Beshear in his column, arguing that the Democrat is no "white devil."
"Andy Beshear isn’t the fork-tongued, slivering, hissing serpent coiled in a tree dripping temptations and deceptions from his reptilian lips," Jones wrote. "Yes, it makes sense for smart Black people to choose the white guy over the Black guy in this one."
This is far from the first time Jones has accused Cameron of selling out black people. Last year, the columnist called Cameron "white supremacy in blackface," a line that MSNBC's Ja'han Jones adopted in a piece earlier this month. "For many, Cameron, a Republican, is viewed as a Black face of white supremacy," Jones wrote.
While Cameron has not responded to Jones's column, the Republican hammered Gerth in a May 25 Twitter thread.
"Joe Gerth has a unique perspective born out of a far-left worldview that cannot fathom black Americans thinking differently from him," Cameron wrote. "For Gerth, my opinions, my parents' opinions, countless family members' opinions don't matter, because we're black conservatives."