(CNN) - A longtime South Carolina state Senator with a reputation for blunt language used the term “raghead” to describe Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and President Obama during an appearance on a political talk show Thursday.
Haley is of Indian-American descent.
State Sen. Jake Knotts, who backs Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer in the four-way Republican primary battle, made the remark during an interview on “Pub Politics,” a popular online political talk show in Columbia.
“We already got one raghead in the White House, we don’t need a raghead in the governor’s mansion,” Knotts said, according to multiple people present for the broadcast.
Knotts made the comment after discussing Haley’s Sikh background, said Phil Bailey, one of the show’s hosts and the communications director for the South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus.
Haley was raised in a Sikh family but is now a practicing Methodist.
Bailey told CNN that Knotts unexpectedly showed up at the webcast and was invited to sit down with the hosts and their panel, which featured two state representatives.
The show’s other host is Wesley Donehue, a Republican operative whose name surfaced in text messages posted online by conservative blogger Will Folks, who alleged last week that he had an affair with Haley. In the text messages, Folks accuses Donehue of shopping rumors about the alleged relationship, which Haley has denied.
Rep. Boyd Brown, a Democrat, was one of the show’s guests Thursday. He said he was “taken back and appalled” by Knotts’ remark.
“He said some things he shouldn’t have said. That’s Jakey,” Brown told CNN. “If I could have crawled under the table I would have.”
Haley campaign manager Tim Pearson blasted Knotts, saying he "represents all that is wrong with South Carolina politics.”
“He’s an embarrassment to our state and to the Republican Party,” Pearson said. “South Carolina is so much better than this, and the people of our state will make that quite clear next Tuesday.”
South Carolina Republican Party chairwoman Karen Floyd called on Knotts to apologize.
“The South Carolina Republican Party strongly condemns any use of racial or religious slurs,” Floyd said in a statement to CNN. “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.”
Repeated attempts to reach Knotts for comment were not successful.
Along with Haley and Bauer, Attorney General Henry McMaster and Rep. Gresham Barrett are also seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination. The primary is June 8.
CORRECTION: The initial version of this story said the video of Knotts' remark was pulled from Ustream after the broadcast. Donehue told CNN the video was not removed from the web, and will be posted online Friday.
From CNN Politics
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State Senator Jake Knotts is a BIGOT but why am I not surprised. This is South Carolina.
Wow. Classy.
You are one stupid person. It seems like you are like our VP just full of crap.
Where do you get off talking like thatabout any person.
You sound like a bigot to me.
your are allowed to get up and leave
Just keep it classy GOP.
I'm really wondering now if they aren't trying to throw the November elections? Their demonstrations of late (i.e. Rand Paul remarks, chicken lady out in Nevada, Arizona racial profiling law, Jim Greer of Fl, Bush now resurfacing admitting he tortured and would do it again, etc) wouldn't suggest anything else.
So.....this Jake Knotts guy....is this how ALL South Carolinians are?
Comments like this don't help Republicans claw their way out of their hole. Any reasonable person living outside of the South is going to hear this and remember why they don't like this party.
A man was also arrested here for killing a man and dragging him
down the road with his truck because of his race.
Not surprising. Its South Carolina after all.
What I don't understand is why they won't just succeed from the Union?
This bonehead does indeed represent the GOP in SC as well as on a whole. He just finally said it out loud. This is exactly what you get when all that you preach is hate, which is all that the GOP does! Hate is the true GOP message, if someone looks different or has a different name, the GOP mounts a campaign of hate against them and anyone who supports them. Hasn't America experienced enough of the politics of hate? I think we have.
Vote NO in NOvember to the party of NO.
Another bigoted idiot; so what else is new? The GOP seems to have plenty of them.
She may or may not be able to keep it in her pants! But now, she's got my sympathy!
south carolina is a laughingstock filled with clowns like sanford and demint. nuf said.
**shakes head**
What century do we live in again?
Bravo Senator Knotts for your honesty. Your party and its followers are cowards for not speaking the truth. Instead they hide behind code phrases like "take back our country" (get the Nxxxxx out of the White House), "birther" issues and make it a point to use the President's middle name Hussein when no one else uses it (he's really a Moslem terrorist). Yes Mr. Knotts, you have my respect, at least for your honesty, and you should certainly have your constituants respect even though they themselves are too cowardice to speak their thoughts.
This is disgusting.. Knotts should step down and if he doesn't, he should be kicked out. There is no room in this country for this crap!
I can't stand Obama but I would verbally rip anyone up and down for saying some racist crap about him. ANYONE!
God bless Nikki Haley and her family, for putting up with all this garbage these jerks have thrown at her. This is how you can tell who is good in politics. The bad are larger in numbers and louder. The good are relentlessly attacked.
Any chance the south would want to leave the union a second time? I think we could drum up enough support to let them go this time around. Jakey is a jack...
What do you expect from South Carolina? This is nothing new.
I suspect Jake Knotts is yet another good Christian. Too bad we can't simply find a way to declare the Southern states "winners" of the Civil War and force them to form their own nation of ignorant, under-educated racists. Sadly, my home in Texas is among the "Red" states, and slipping closer every day to full-blown moron status.
Funny how this guy showed up, as he obviously wasn't invited. What he said on air is what he says when no one is around, and everyone knows it....'that's Jakey'.
Stay classy there Senator. A comment like that makes me question every single person who voted him into office.
Well, there is something to be said for consistency and SC never fails us.
Well, that's why Republican is a polite way of saying 'Racist'.
Who's shocked?
We've certainly got a bonehead in the South Carolina Senate.
Waiting for the excuses....
What a disgrace! Does the GOP want to alienate EVERYBODY? Already the Hispanics are leaving in droves. African Americans have long since left. Women, particularly YOUNG women are turned off. Now a Repubilcan attacks a member of his own Party by calling her a 'Towelhead'? It looks like 2010 may not be the blow-out the GOP was bragging about.