Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis fired back at critics, saying she’s “so tired” of “idiots” trying to shame her for prosecuting former President Donald Trump in a state case alleging 2020 election interference.
“I live the experience of being a black woman who has been assaulted and hypersexualized,” Willis said Thursday at a church in Marietta, Georgia. “Look, I’m so tired of hearing those fools call my name ‘Fanny’ to insult me because that name, like some stupid schoolboy, reminds me of a woman’s backside, the backside.”
A district attorney’s investigation led to Trump and 18 co-defendants being indicted last year in a sweeping racketeering case accusing them of conspiring to alter the state’s 2020 presidential vote count.
Trump and his allies, especially co-defendant Rudy Giuliani, have continued to attack Willis while maintaining his innocence. Sometimes they called her by her derogatory names. Giuliani called her ‘ho’ at her right-wing event last week, and he and Trump pronounced Willis’ name ‘Fanny’ at her event. Her name is pronounced “FAH-nee”.
“Fani the ho,” Giuliani said at a Christian nationalist conference in Michigan. “If she quits and leaves, she might leave out the ‘ho’ part.”
John Bazemore/Associated Press
“Fanny, like your ass,” Trump said at a rally in Ohio earlier this year.
Willis has been candid about his frustration with trying to prosecute Trump and his co-defendants. The case was in jeopardy earlier this year after one of the defendant’s attorneys accused her of an inappropriate relationship with her attorney, Nathan Wade, who the defendant hired to lead her prosecution team. The lawyers said the romance justified Willis’ disqualification, but the judge ruled that Willis can continue in his role as long as Wade steps down.
He did so last March, saying he was proud of his work but would leave “for the sake of democracy” and see events unfold.
But the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed to reconsider that decision and stayed the charges against Trump and several other defendants while hearing oral arguments. A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 4, which all but guarantees the case will not be tried before the Nov. 5 election.
On Thursday, Willis told his congregation not to worry about the insults directed at him. They swore that if they broke the law, they would be held accountable “without exception.”
“I promise. I don’t pay attention to them. “I am too busy working 15 hours a day to use all the talents God has given me to fulfill my God-given purpose.”
