Nithya Raman’s LA mayor bid in ‘disarray’ as staffer’s ‘racist’ video emerges

LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman has dismissed a part-time staffer after he posted a video claiming former Michigan Senate candidate Haley Stevens had “tried to brainwash a lot of the black vote.”

Eric Cheng, a political influencer who worked with the campaign to coordinate relationships with content creators, was removed from his position, according to the Raman’s campaign.

“Turns out basically Haley tried to brainwash a lot of the black vote…” Cheng says in a video explaining the state of the Michigan Senate race between Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed.

Raman’s campaign condemned Cheng’s statements, calling them “reprehensible” and saying they “do not reflect our campaign.”

“We’re aware of a video posted by a part-time staffer on his personal social media account commenting about the Michigan Senate race.

“The comments in it are reprehensible and do not reflect our campaign. We apologize. This staffer is no longer with the campaign,” a post on X from Nithya Raman’s campaign said.

The controversy gained attention after Mike Trujillo, a political consultant who backs incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, shared a post drawing attention to Cheng’s video.

Trujillo also criticized Raman’s campaign, writing: “This isn’t even funny. Nithya Raman staffer posts a video where he claims Congresswoman Haley Stevens has “brainwashed” the black vote in Michigan.

“Dude, what is it with your campaign and the constant ignorance of the African American community?

“Can the campaign apologize or will this take six days too? As for Haley Stevens, what she did was upsetting and wrong for a lot of Democrats, not sure why Nithya Raman’s campaign staffer needs to go after the African American community. Seriously chill out.”

The California Post contacted Nithya Raman’s campaign and was referred to their post on X. The outlet also reached out to Eric Cheng for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

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