South Carolina Republicans were quick Thursday evening to condemn the remarks of a prominent Republican State Senator, Jake Knotts, who referred to a gubernatorial candidate as a "raghead" on an online political show today. [Knotts also referred to President Obama with the same term.] Knotts, a foe of Governor Mark Sanford and his protege, State Rep. Nikki Haley, made the remark of Haley on the local webcast Pub Politics.
Haley was born a Sikh, and the slur can refer to Arabs, Muslims, or those who -- like Sikh men -- wear turbans. She is a convert to Christianity.
The video is not currently available.
“The South Carolina Republican Party strongly condemns any use of racial or religious slurs. Senator Knotts should apologize for his inappropriate comments, so that we can put this unfortunate incident behind us and focus on issues important to moving our state forward," said Republican Party Chair Karen Floyd in a statement.
Said Haley spokesman Tim Pearson:
“Jake Knotts represents all that is wrong with South Carolina politics. He’s an embarrassment to our state and to the Republican Party. South Carolina is so much better than this, and the people of our state will make that quite clear next Tuesday.”
UPDATE: The State, quoting people who watched the show, quotes Knotts as saying:
“We already got one raghead in the White House, we don’t need a raghead in the governor’s mansion."
UPDATE: The State's John O'Connor quotes a partial apology from Knotts: "I still believe Ms. Haley is pretending to be someone she is not, much as Obama did, but I apologize to both for an unintended slur."
