Dave Carney, a sharp political adviser who has helped guide Rick Perry’s state campaigns, tried to take on Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, over guns.
But he might have shot himself in the foot.
Carney was touting on Twitter the Colorado recall of two state senators who had supported gun control measures after Aurora and Sandy Hook. Both lost that election this week.
On Thursday, Carney was tweeting about it and pulled up posts by others that were critical of Davis on gun control measures.
He retweeted: “Total Recall in CO (and why Wendy Davis is too Stupid to be Governor)” Following the link supplied by Carney were posts that referred to Davis as “retard Barbie” and used other insulting language.
This social media fracas followed Abbott responding positively to a tweet last month that also called Davis “retard Barbie.” Abbott thanked the poster for his support.
On Thursday, Democrats expressed their outrage on behalf of Davis, who is contemplating a run for governor and would likely face Abbott.
“It’s clear that Abbott’s advisers are following a strategy of offending every woman voter in the state of Texas,” said Will Hailer, executive director of the state Democratic Party.
“A woman who worked her way from a trailer park to graduate from Harvard Law School with honors is anything but stupid,” he said.
Hailer added that the joke will be on Republicans when Texas women show at polling places that it’s not, “okay to reference such a hard working and smart woman as stupid.”
This is not the first time Carney has found himself criticized for using insulting language.
In February 2010, Carney said arrangements being made for the gubernatorial debates were “retarded.” He was representing Perry in the discussions.
Several campaign representatives on the conference call reported that Carney said, “That’s just retarded. That’s the most retarded thing I’ve ever heard.”
The language caught the attention of Sarah Palin, who slammed Carney for using the disparaging term. Her youngest son has Down syndrome.
The Abbott campaign did not have any immediate comment.
Total Recall in CO (and why Wendy Davis is too Stupid to be Governor) http://t.co/NcLglHHRlD via @robbiecooper #inquringmindsliketoknow
— Dave Carney (@granitewinger) September 12, 2013