The kind of guy you want for mayor of your town.

Meridian mayoral candidate: ‘We’ve got the dumbest kids on the planet here in Mississippi’ (WLBT, Jackson, Miss.)

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WLBT/WTOK) - Some shocking and uncomfortable moments happened at a political forum in Meridian Tuesday afternoon. One of the candidates running for mayor of Meridian did not have a lot of good things to say about school children.

“Meridian has the dumbest kids on the planet,” Republican candidate Robert Ray said.

The guests attending the mayoral forum appeared stunned by what Ray said when he was asked about spending stimulus funds. WTOK gave him a chance to explain.

“There’s nothing to clear up. We’ve got the dumbest kids on the planet here in Mississippi,” Ray said. “You can tell that in the schools. We are rated the lowest schools. What determines whether our kids are dumb or not?”

Ray said he would spend the money on the school system to improve education.

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