A Republican candidate for New York State Senate planned to offer voters fried chicken, Kool-Aid and watermelon at a campaign event in a primarily black community in Harlem, NBC4 reported Thursday.

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New York State Senate candidate Jon Girodes told NBC4 about the event in an email he exchanged with the network about a month before Election Day.

“Ps I’m hosting an event in Harlem which will be in front of the state building in a few weeks," he wrote in the email.

"We will [donate] Kool Aid, KFC and watermelons to the public on 125th street in Harlem. Please join us to help the community."

The district in which Girodes is running includes the historically black communities of Harlem and East Harlem.

Residents of the district told NBC4 that Girodes's plan was "racist" and "more than an insult."

In his response, Girodes denied his remarks were offensive.

“What I think is anyone who gives free food to people is doing them a favor,” he said, according to the NBC4. “Get a bunch of people who say it’s offensive and let me go into their neighborhood and give it out for free and see if they take it.”

Girodes's opponent, State Sen. Bill Perkins (D), denounced the statements.

“I think it’s important to out [Girodes’s remarks] not just to denounce him but to set a tone in this neighborhood and in this city that this type of offense does not go unchallenged," he told NBC4.