Joe Mitchell, the Republican nominee for a toss-up House seat in eastern Iowa, can be heard shouting “I don’t like Black women!” in a 2017 college video that surfaced Friday, 11 days before the election. Donald Trump and Turning Point Action have both endorsed him.
The footage, first obtained by the Daily Mail and since reported by other outlets, was recorded when Mitchell was 19 and a student at Drake University in Des Moines. In it he also says he wants his children “to not be white,” says he does not like white people (with a profanity), and says he wants to marry a Black woman. The woman who gave the footage to the Daily Mail said she was not in the room when it was recorded.
Mitchell, now 29, is running for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, the open seat left by Ashley Hinson’s run for the Senate. His opponent is Democratic state Rep. Lindsay James. The Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up, and an August poll by the Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC had James ahead 46% to 45%.
Mitchell did not dispute that the video is real. “My entire generation has had a camera in their face since we were born,” he said in a statement. “I was 19, in college, and I have grown up.” His attorney said “political foes” were trying to damage his campaign. Eric Branstad, a Republican operative, called the leak a product of jealousy.
The woman who leaked it rejected the youthful-indiscretion defense. “We are all drunk and young once,” she said, “but that doesn’t make us any less accountable for our words.” The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has circulated the clip.
The remarks are about Black women, who live in the district Mitchell is asking to represent and would be affected by the votes he casts. Iowa votes on Nov. 3.
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