S.C. Republicans condemn ‘[bigoted word]’ comment

politico.com

“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 “[bigoted word]” 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.””

I”m glad that the Republican leadership smacked this asshole down. It’s the only way the party will become better - self monitoring and rebuking this behavior.