Court Battles

Fani Willis says she’s been ‘attacked and oversexualized’ by critics

Fulton County (Ga.) District Attorney Fani Willis called out her critics Thursday, saying she has been victim to continuous attacks amid her prosecution of former President Trump for alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

“I live the experience of a Black woman who is attacked and oversexualized,” she said in a speech at a church in Atlanta. “See, I’m so tired of hearing these idiots call my name as ‘Fanny’ in a way to attempt to humiliate me because, like silly school boys, the name reminds them of a woman’s rear, of her behind.”

Among those who have made such a taunt is Trump himself, who once labeled the prosecutor “Fanny, like your a‑‑,” when talking about her at an Ohio rally in March.

The case against Trump has been derailed by an investigation into whether Willis should be removed from it due to her romantic relationship with a special prosecutor. The prosecutor agreed to step down from the case, though the attempt to get Willis disqualified has continued to a Georgia appeals court.

Willis told the church Thursday that those close to her have shown concern for her in the face of the attacks, but that she isn’t fazed.

“What I’m here to tell you is to not concern yourself with insults of me. I promise you, I don’t concern myself with them,” she said. “I am too busy working 15-hour days trying to use every talent God gave me to fulfill my God-given purpose.”

The prosecutor also appeared to go after House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who has demanded records from Willis for months while accusing her of misconduct.

“We have politicians that spend no time doing their elected purpose,” Willis said. “In fact, we got a clown in Washington, D.C., who’s been elected for the purpose to make his community safer and pass laws. But he’s been sitting there for 17 years and passed zero laws.”

The questions over Willis’s relationship and attempts to remove her from the prosecution have completely stalled the case’s progress, meaning it is unlikely to go to trial before the November election.