Independent candidate Shiva Ayyadurai is in a battle with Cambridge, Mass. city officials over “anonymous complaints” about Ayyadurai’s campaign slogan in his U.S. Senate bid against incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The slogan? Don’t be drinking anything when you read the slogan, because it’ll most likely shoot out your nose. “Only a REAL INDIAN Can Defeat the Fake Indian.”
The city of Cambridge — which is unironically where Warren hails from — sent a letter to Ayyadurai’s campaign with the threat of being fined $300 a day for every day his campaign keeps the slogan.
The Ayyadurai campaign isn’t taking the threats lying down. The challenger to Warren’s Senate seat filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Cambridge for violating his First Amendment rights, according to the Washington Times.
“We will not allow the racist Warren to unleash her fascists in the City of Cambridge to shutdown our historic slogan, attack the First Amendment, and extort monies from our campaign,” Ayyadurai wrote on his campaign’s website.
Warren’s claims to Native American origin have been the butt of many jokes, while at the same time a widely debated topic.
Ayyadurai on the other hand was born in Mumbai, India, so his claims of being a “real Indian” really isn’t up for debate.
“Senator Elizabeth Warren’s actions are vengeful and an outright attack on the First Amendment and Free Speech,” Ayyadurai wrote on his campaign’s website. “Our slogan exposes the deception of Warren — not just her shoplifting identity, but her lack of integrity.”