An assistant coach with the Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs college football team has been fired after he called former Georgia state assembly member and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams “Fat Albert” in a racist-filled tweet on Tuesday, ESPN reported.
In the said offensive tweet which has since been deleted, the dismissed coach, Chris Malone, accused Abrams of helping rig the elections which saw President-elect Joe Biden win the state of Georgia as well as Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff clinching the remaining senatorial seats to hand over a majority to the Democratic Party in the Senate.
“Congratulations to the state GA and Fat Albert @staceyabrams because you have truly shown America the true works of cheating in an election, again!!!,” Malone posted in the deleted tweet that was, however, captured by Chattanooga Holler. “Enjoy the buffet Big Girl! You earned it!!! Hope the money was good, still not governor!”
In two separate statements on Thursday, Head coach Rusty Wright and athletic director Mark Wharton condemned Malone’s offensive post and confirmed he had been terminated with immediate effect.
“Our football program has a clear set of standards” Wright said in the statement. “Those standards include respecting others. It is a message our players hear daily. It is a standard I will not waiver on. What was posted on social media by a member of my staff is unacceptable and not any part of what I stand for or what Chattanooga Football stands for. Life is bigger than football and as leaders of young men we have to set that example, first and foremost. With that said, effectively immediately, that individual is no longer a part of my staff.”
Malone also deleted his Twitter account following the backlash. “The entire post was appalling,” Wharton said in his statement. “The sentiments in that post do not represent the values of our football program, our athletics department or our university. With that said, effective immediately, that individual is no longer a part of the program.”
See below for statements from @MWharton_MocsAD and @GoMocsFB head coach @CoachRustyW. pic.twitter.com/CbNbemdugl
— Chattanooga Mocs (@GoMocs) January 7, 2021
Abrams – a Democratic Party member – has been receiving praise and commendation for spearheading a charge to encourage Black Georgians to vote and register if they haven’t. She has also been outspoken about voter suppression in the state and has been fighting to minimize and ultimately eliminate it.
The 47-year-old, who served as a state assembly member between 2007 and 2017 and was minority leader at a certain point, also contested the gubernatorial seat in 2018, narrowly losing against Republican candidate Brian Kemp. She would have been the first Black female governor in Georgia had she won.
