You know that reputation the right wing has for cozying up to white supremacists and racists? And you know how right wingers always fly into a rage when someone brings it up, denying that they’re sympathetic to racists — in fact, denying that they have any problem with racism at all? And you know how they always try to turn the accusation around and call liberals “the real racists?”

Well, stories like this tend to make it difficult for the right to maintain these fictions: GOP Gov. Nikki Haley’s White Supremacist Resigns Campaign.

That’s correct, the Republican governor of South Carolina appointed an overt white supremacist to her reelection steering committee: Roan Garcia-Quintana, director of the Council of Conservative Citizens, one of the most noxious racist hate groups in the United States.

It took a few days, and a good bit of cajoling, but Gov. Nikki Haley’s (R-SC) reelection campaign finally withdrew its support of a white supremacist whom Haley appointed to her reelection steering committee in February. After repeatedly standing by Council of Conservative Citizens Director Roan Garcia-Quintana for several days, the Haley campaign finally asked for, and received, Garcia-Quintana’s resignation on Sunday.

Lest you think that the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Policy Law Center were exaggerating when they called the Council of Conservative a “white supremacist” and “white nationalist hate group,” respectively, check out some of the garbage that’s on their website. If you think calling the Cuban-American Roan Garcia-Quintana a white supremacist is an exaggeration, check out what he said on Friday, when confronted with the controversy:

In an interview with The State Friday, Garcia-Quintana dismissed accusations of racism, saying the council “supports Caucasian heritage.”

“Is it racist to be proud of your own heritage? Is it racist to want to keep your own heritage pure?” Garcia-Quintana said. “Racist is when you hate somebody so much that you want to destroy them.”

And Gov. Nikki Haley didn’t fire Garcia-Quintana immediately when this association was publicized — she defended him, claimed there was “nothing racial about this Cuban-American’s participation in the political process,” and denied he was a racist.

In other words, she followed a well-worn Republican script — denying and trying to divert attention away, then finally bailing out when the heat got too intense, pretending she had no idea about this guy’s white supremacist beliefs.

“While we appreciate the support Roan has provided, we were previously unaware of some of the statements he had made, statements which do not well represent the views of the governor. There is no place for racially divisive rhetoric in the politics or governance of South Carolina, and Governor Haley has no tolerance for it.”

Today’s Republican Party is more in bed with these kinds of racist throwbacks than ever before. This is just the latest in a constant parade of these incidents ever since the election of Barack Obama.