In a followup to the American Family Association’s “repudiation” of raving hate-monger Bryan Fischer, the Southern Poverty Law Center reports that they received a letter from the AFA trying to distance themselves from Fischer’s racist and anti-gay statements.

The SPLC isn’t buying it, and neither should anyone else. The AFA is simply trying to save face and maintain their connections to the Republican Party, because their extremist bigotry has finally gotten some media attention; and Fischer is far from the only hate-spewing loon in this organization.

The repudiation of Bryan Fischer’s statements came just two days before members of the Republican National Committee (RNC) are scheduled to embark on a trip to Israel sponsored by the AFA.

Last week, the SPLC wrote to all 168 members of the RNC urging them not to accompany the AFA on the trip because of the group’s long track record of bigotry and hate. The SPLC has named the AFA as a hate group due to its history of making false, demonizing statements about the LGBT community, including Fischer’s contention that gay men were responsible for the Holocaust.

SPLC President Richard Cohen, in a letter to the AFA today (see below), wrote that “it’s difficult to see the AFA’s disavowal as anything other than an effort to quell the negative press attention you’re receiving in connection with your sponsorship of an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel for members of the Republican National Committee.”

Fischer has claimed, for example, that black people “rut like rabbits”; that the First Amendment applies only to Christians; that Hispanics are “socialists by nature” and come to the U.S. to “plunder” the country; that Muslims should not be permitted to build mosques in the United States; that an underground railroad is needed to protect children from gay parents; and more.