A prominent Westchester attorney has resigned from a chairmanship at the New York City Bar Association after posting a tweet suggesting former gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino’s black running mate was mulling offers “to be the new spokesmodel for either Cream of Wheat, or Uncle Ben’s Rice.”
The Journal News reports that Andrew Barovick stepped down from the leadership post in the association's Medical Malpractice Committee Wednesday after more than a week of feverish backlash over the message directed at Chris Moss, Astorino's pick for lieutenant governor.
“In light of election loss, @SheriffMoss mulling offers to be new spokesmodel for either Cream of Wheat, or Uncle Ben's Rice,” Barovick said in the now-deleted Nov. 3 tweet.
The tweet, sent in anticipation of Astorino and Moss' election-day loss, sparked immediate uproar online and had the group Westchester Citizens Against Racism calling for Barovick to be stripped of his chairmanship.
Moss, the sheriff in Chemung County in western New York, lambasted the tweet, calling it a “blatant racist smear.”
Barovick initially defended the tweet but apologized in a message posted Nov. 5.
“What I tweeted earlier about .@SherrifMoss was dumb & insensitive, and I apologize for it,” he said.
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He hasn't tweeted since posting the Nov. 5 message.
