A conservative political action committee (PAC) is facing backlash for allegedly twisting a victim’s words to attack Vice President Kamala Harris.
The victim, Kimberly Burrell, lost her son, Darryl Pray Jr., over a decade ago when he was shot and killed in 2009 at the age of 18.
Flash forward to this past July, when Burrell participated in an NBC News segment about gun violence.
“The gathering took place around the anniversary of the death of her 18-year-old son Darryl Pray Jr. in 2009, and Burrell was a bundle of raw emotion,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I was a mess,” Burrell recalled to the Inquirer. “I couldn’t stop crying.”
Here’s where the story takes an interesting turn. The Inquirer outright admits that during the segment, “[t]he reporter pivoted with a few questions about the election for what would later become another segment.”
“And though Burrell and others said they didn’t want to talk much about politics, Burrell shared some general thoughts on the challenges of inflation as a single working mother,” according to the Inquirer.
“Imagine the mother making minimum wage trying to feed children,” she tearfully said in the segment. “They’re killing us without killing us.”
Returning to the present, the Restoration of America PAC has since used those words to attack Harris for touting Bidenomics.
Watch:
(Video Credit: Restoration of America)
Burrell is now outraged over this.
“They can just steal your image and comments and twist it the way they want it to be twisted,” she told the Inquirer. “It’s just really sick.”
The problem, of course, is that her words weren’t twisted or presented out of context. Were they not about inflation?
But, this doesn’t seem to matter to critics, who are now attacking former President Donald Trump for the ad, even though he isn’t even affiliated with the Restoration of America PAC.
Look:
This is unsurprising and loathsome. I wondered when that ad ran. These cultists have no bottom. Ugh.
— Mrs. Libby (@mrslibbysclass) October 9, 2024
Calling the MAGA cultists deplorables was entirely too nice! These people are reprehensible and the scourge of our society!
— I love the 54th (@JTJ24) October 9, 2024
Lie, steal, cheat, and deceit. A line from “Wrong ‘Em Boy” by The Clash and the modus operandi of Trump and his sponsors..
— Keith Mullen (@kbmullen5) October 9, 2024
Talking about twisting. Trump also used Twisted Sisters’ “We’re not gonna take it” without consent. Also, talking about Trump and without consent… well you know what I mean
— Stormursson (@Stormchild3) October 9, 2024
Despicable Trumpist promo agents couldn’t get away with stealing famous music themes after being threatened with law suits so they turn to stealing the faces of the powerless. Truly Satanic.
— No-No-No 2 Trump (@trump_no77292) October 10, 2024
Asked by Helen Ubiñas of the Inquirer to respond to the growing criticism, a Trump campaign spokesperson rightly suggested that she talk to the PAC itself.
When confronted by Ubiñas, PAC spokesperson Dan Curry said the following: “Your X feed indicates you are a hard partisan with a strong case of Trump Derangement Syndrome — therefore you don’t need my help in cobbling together your biased column. Have a blessed day.”
Critics have also been calling for Burrell to sue the Restoration of America PAC, but the Inquirer’s reporting reveals that this would fail.
“Jeffrey D. Swartz, professor of law at Cooley Law School, specializing in constitutional law, said …Â political action committees have ‘wide berth’ under U.S. copyright law and ‘fair use’ that allows newscast clips to be used with proper attribution,” according to the paper.
But there is a slight catch.
“[I]f Burrell believes that the use of her image and comments misrepresented her views, she could mount a challenge in court asking that the ads be halted,” the Inquirer notes. “Doing so, however, would be an expensive proposition.”
And also probably a failed endeavor, since, as noted earlier, she had in fact been speaking about inflation in the clip. Though Burrell nevertheless remains stubbornly committed to the proposition that she has been somehow wronged.
“If we allow Trump to get into office, he will literally and figuratively steal our voices,” she reportedly wrote on Facebook. “He stole my voice and took a moment of vulnerability from me.”
He didn’t steal anything from her…
“This is what we’ve allowed this country to become, a place where lies can be told and go unchallenged,” she added in a statement to the Inquirer. “We give them power by not calling them out on anything.”
She’s since contacted a lawyer and is working on a cease and desist letter.
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