South Carolina Republican Party calls on Jake Knotts to resign
Read more: South Carolina Republican Party calls on Jake Knotts to resign - Andy Barr - POLITICO.com
The Lexington County Republican Party on Thursday night asked GOP state Sen. Jake Knotts to resign for calling gubernatorial nominee Nikki Haley a “raghead.”
The county party said the comments brought “shame” and “disgrace” to both Knotts and the state in the resolution condemning the state senator’s actions.
Knotts, a key ally of one of Haley’s primary opponents, used the term in a recent interview to describe both President Barack Obama and Haley, who is the child of Sikh immigrants from India.
He later tried to clarify his comments, saying in a statement that he believes Haley “is pretending to be someone she is not, much as Obama did, but I apologize to both for an unintended slur.”
The resolution censuring Knotts does not cite the word he used to describe Haley, saying only that the state senator’s “racial epithets has brought shame and disgrace upon himself, his office and his party.”
The resolution then “condemns the racist statement” before calling on Knotts to “resign his office forthwith.”
In a response, Knotts said he had no intention of resigning,
“This is not a Republican Party, this is a libertarian party,” Knotts said. “This is nothing but politics. I’m not resigning. I could care less.”
Read more: South Carolina Republican Party calls on Jake Knotts to resign - Andy Barr - POLITICO.com
The Lexington County Republican Party on Thursday night asked GOP state Sen. Jake Knotts to resign for calling gubernatorial nominee Nikki Haley a “raghead.”
The county party said the comments brought “shame” and “disgrace” to both Knotts and the state in the resolution condemning the state senator’s actions.
Knotts, a key ally of one of Haley’s primary opponents, used the term in a recent interview to describe both President Barack Obama and Haley, who is the child of Sikh immigrants from India.
He later tried to clarify his comments, saying in a statement that he believes Haley “is pretending to be someone she is not, much as Obama did, but I apologize to both for an unintended slur.”
The resolution censuring Knotts does not cite the word he used to describe Haley, saying only that the state senator’s “racial epithets has brought shame and disgrace upon himself, his office and his party.”
The resolution then “condemns the racist statement” before calling on Knotts to “resign his office forthwith.”
In a response, Knotts said he had no intention of resigning,
“This is not a Republican Party, this is a libertarian party,” Knotts said. “This is nothing but politics. I’m not resigning. I could care less.”
