SC Senator Calls Haley, President 'Ragheads'

GOP demands apology from Jake Knotts
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 4, 2010 2:03 AM CDT
Updated Jun 4, 2010 7:22 AM CDT
SC Senator Calls Haley, President 'Ragheads'
South Carolina Rep. Nikki Haley speaks during a forum at the Carolina First Center in Greenville, SC, last month.   (AP Photo/Patrick Collard)

South Carolina GOP state senator Jake Knotts is under fire from his own party after using a racial slur to describe Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and President Obama. "We already got one raghead in the White House, we don’t need a raghead in the governor’s mansion," Knotts said during an online political talk show, people present at the broadcast tell the State. Haley, currently the front-runner, is a Christian convert of Indian descent.

The chairwoman of South Carolina's Republican Party urged Knotts to apologize, and Haley's campaign condemned the remarks. "Jake Knotts represents all that is wrong with South Carolina politics," said a Haley spokesman. "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.” (More South Carolina stories.)

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