If so, I would take back my description of her as a jerk.

My impression was that of an incredibly insensitive, ugly, racist act committed with an overt political motivation and also a selfish personal motive to get attention, and perhaps fame. In other words just a mean, horrible person trying to score points and not giving a damn who gets hurt in the process.

There was once a time in America, and not too long ago, when even the most baseless accusation from a white woman could immediatley land a black man in jail, sometimes for a long time, despite whatever facts or evidence existed at the time. The irrational racial fears behind such prejudice have lessened no doubt but they still exist...and I believe that the worst thing you can do in politics is to stoke up and exploit those fears for political gain.