‘I Chose Romney Not by Color of His Skin But by the Content of His Character’: Clueless Star Stacey Dash Hits Back at Her Race-Hate Twitter Critics

Actress Stacey Dash defended her support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney after she received a barrage of Twitter attacks for her decision.

She said in a televised interview Tuesday night that she had since spoken with vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and he had high praise for the Clueless star.

‘He said thank you so much for your support, and that I was brave and that they support me and I thought that was so generous and kind, lovely,’ Ms Dash told CNN‘s Piers Morgan.

Ryan’s supportive call comes after he faced racial criticism himself as a young man when he dated an African American woman in college.

Ms Dash’s public appearance Tuesday was two days after the actress tweeted her support for the former Massachusetts governor on Sunday but soon a series of vitriolic messages with racial slurs were sent her way, slamming Dash for her political views.

Ms Dash said, in her first television interview since the original tweet, that the reason why switched from supporting President Obama in 2008 to now endorsing his opponent is ‘because of the state of the country’.

‘I want the next four years to be different,’ she said on the show.

‘When I watched the governor and his wife on Meet the Press with David Gregory, they spoke to me and they seemed authentic and genuine about what they said about this country about the need for us to be united and move forward.’

Using the line made famous by Martin Luther Kg Jr. in his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, Ms Dash said that she endorsed Romney ‘not by the color of his skin but the content of his character’.

The ugly virtual exchange has cast a pall over the publicized reunion of the cast of the 1995 film, as the 46-year-old insists Romney is the best choice for women.

Dash, who played Dionne ‘Dee’ Davenport in the high school comedy opposite Alicia Silverstone, took to the micro blogging website this weekend to reveal how she would be voting come November.

‘Vote for Romney. The only choice for your future,’ she tweeted on Sunday, posting a steamy photo of herself dressed in a sexy red top in front of an American flag.

After her statement, she later re-tweeted a message from the conservative candidate to female voters, promising that a Romney regime would provide more economic opportunities for women.
‘Women have had enough of Barack Obama,’ the message from the GOP challenger, dated October 6, read.

But once she showed her political stripes, Dash was soon slammed on Twitter with many commentators taking aim at her less-than-stellar film career.

‘You’re an unemployed black woman endorsing Mitt Romney. You’re voting against yourself thrice. You poor beautiful idiot,’ one person wrote in an ugly message to the actress.

‘Still clueless,’ another critic tweeted, as numerous tweets filled with racial slurs were posted.

‘Wait Stacey Dash is voting for Romney? You get a lil money and you forget that you’re black and a woman. Two things Romney hates,’ another user tweeted.

In addition to negative attention, she also upped her web presence with an additional 30,000 followers in the wake of the political message.

But after a flurry of messages, Dash seemed to take the online attack in stride and posted a follow-up message, defending her right to support the Republican nominee.

‘My humble opinion…EVERYONE is entitled to one,’ she wrote.

Fans of her political persuasion joined in, re-tweeting her endorsement nearly 5,000 times.

Team Dash also started a hashtag, #ISupportStaceyDash, to encourage the beaten down star.

‘It’s not against the law to speak out against Obama, yet. There are millions with you @realstaceydash. We’ve ALL had enough ‘change,’ one supporter wrote.

Another added, ‘#ISupportStaceyDash It’s a shame that she’s condemned for supporting @MittRomney because she’s black. #BlackConservativesForRomney.’

The Twitter war began just as Dash was stepping back into the spotlight as part of a lighthearted reunion with the cast of the comedy – 17 years after its release.

Since the film, she starred in the short-lived TV adaptation of the story and has also appeared in various smaller films.

The Clueless cast was featured in Entertainment Weekly, as part of the magazine’s Reunions Issue, and also were interviewed on Good Morning America on October 5.

The actors reminisced about the mood on set filming the cult classic and also remembered actress Brittany Murphy, Tai Fraiser in the film, who died in 2009 at the age of 32.