SC Lawmaker Asked to Resign Over Haley Slur

'I could care less,' says state senator about 'raghead' reaction
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 11, 2010 8:20 AM CDT
SC Lawmaker Asked to Resign Over Haley Slur
South Carolina Republican candidate for Governor Rep. Nikki Haley, speaks to supporters at the Capital City Club in Columbia, S.C., shortly after a runoff was declared Tuesday, June 8, 2010.   (AP Photo/Brett Flashnick)

The Lexington County Republican Party has rebuked its own state Senator and asked Jake Knotts to resign after he called fellow Republican Nikki Haley, who is Indian-American, a “raghead.” He’s apologized for the comment, saying it was intended as a joke, but tells The State that he won’t resign. “This is not a Republican Party, this is a libertarian party,” complained Knotts, who hails from the same county as Haley. “This is nothing but politics. I am not resigning. I could care less.”

He's also done with apologizing. “I’m not going to be a Mark Sanford and get on TV over and over,” he said. The state party will probably wind up voting on the censure measure, which one county chairman predicts will pass. “We had to be the ones to do this,” said the author of the resolution. “We love to point fingers at Democrats. But we can’t do that and not by hypocrites if we can’t take care of our own.” (More Nikki Haley stories.)

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