Washington (CNN) – The Republican National Committee has cancelled a fundraiser with conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, who is under fire for promoting an edited video that falsely portrays former Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod as having boasted about discriminating against a white farmer looking for her assistance.
Breitbart was scheduled to appear with RNC Chairman Michael Steele at a reception later this month in Beverly Hills.
“We are working on scheduling and we fully plan to have another event scheduled soon based on our existing trips to California,” an RNC spokesman said in a statement sent to CNN.
The spokesman said the fundraiser was cancelled “To better capitalize on the fall fundraising season that happens post-Labor Day, while also lowering costs by utilizing existing trips to California.”
Breitbart has been under fire for posting the video clip of Sherrod that led to a rush to judgment and Sherrod's forced resignation. She was later vindicated when her speech to a chapter of the NAACP was shown in full. Sherrod said on Friday that she will sue Breitbart.
Update: An RNC spokesman tells CNN that Breitbart will be invited to the next California fundraiser this fall. “The invitation stands,” said the spokesman, who noted they are looking for “an alternative date.”
From CNN Politics
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Just shows that there are more spineless wonders in the RNC. Create a mess based on doctored footage and then run!
Andrew Breitbart is a joke. So is the RNC.
They can't even tell the truth on why they cancelled him...more lies, just what we've come to expect.
The spokesman said the fundraiser was cancelled “To better capitalize on the fall fundraising season that happens post-Labor Day, while also lowering costs by utilizing existing trips to California.”
Yeah, right! The RNC is postponing using Breitbart until the heat from this scandal has died down ... but they'll still trot him out closer to the November election, to work his "magic" on the Republican ignorant, hate-filled "base."
Pathetic losers!
Cowardice: pure and simple. Do we want cowards in office, representing this country? People who will lie to you and then hide? Thats what Republicans are and thats what they always be: say one thing and do another and then hide when it gets too hot.
backpeddling a bit there GOP??
An event? Breitbart should be tarred and feathered for his lies!
If he was a good heart human being, he would apologize to Shirley Sherrod. But he is not doing that, he is just an example how evil the right wing of the republican party could be.
Republicans are chickens. Can't take any responsibility for those things they do, and those hired to be done in their name. They were looking for a little petty thuggery in smearing Sherrod in a casual drive by swift boating. Hopefully they will get more than they can handle. Breitbart just a casual thug.
So, Michael Steele won't just call this guy the wacko racist that he is because he's too worried about offending the wacko racist conservative base. Too funny!
I'm sure the RNC doesn't want to come away from contact with Breitbart with the inevitable smell that is so hard to wash off.
Breitbart is a seriously dispicable person, and he highlights PERFECTLY how America's right-wing thrives exclusively on LIES, FEAR, RACISM and imaginary victimhood. It is so pathetic and weak.
Stepping in it is one thing. Stepping in it up to your ear lobes takes a stunning lack of judgment. That being said, I notice the article very carefully says the video falsely portrays Sherrod as having "boasted" about discriminating against a white farmer. It doesn't actually say the video falsely shows she did discriminate against the white farmer. It would appear she did. However, her subsequent change of heart should have been included in the released video.
It's Too Late To Turn Him Back Now, We're Hip To Both Breitbart And Republicans. So Let Him Speak His Tongue And Hang Himself Some More.
RNC announced the fundraiser AFTER the Sherrod incident, thus embracing a man who spread lies. Does this mean republicans acknowlede being truth-impaired?
Is there an honest bone in the body of even one GOP'er? Just read the justification for the cancellation of the fundraiser and the methane level goes up to an explosive level.
How incredibly sad for any political party to dodge the truth. Is it any wonder Congress has a 21% approval rating? While performance is a measurement criterion, certainly the trust factor is another HUGE issue.
Wouldn't it be refreshing if a GOP'er involved in the decision-making of this event would have just said "Mr. Breitbart and his mores are inconsistent with where the GOP wishes to be positioned; therefore, his involvement with our Party has been excluded!"
"And I Think To Myself . . . What a Wonderful World!"
Frankly, I'm surprised the GOP had enough good sense and enough courage to cancel the appearance. Of course, they weaken the courage part by talking as though Breitbart will appear with Steele after Labor Day. The good sense part goes away if Steele or any other senior GOP official actually appears with him.
The RNC can't afford to be closely associated with Breitbart right now - his methods of purposefully creating a false impression do not go over with the general populace.
But they also cannot afford to distance themselves too much, either - he has resonated with a vocal section of their base, and they can't afford to lose that base.
So they will cancel the current event "to better capitalize on... existing trips" - and they will probably never reschedule, or at least wait until the furor dies down.
Breitbart and Fox News = liars.
It's long past time for the saner folks in the GOP to repudiate, and distance themselves from, the racist propagandists like Breitbart, Rush, Coulter and Beck. I won't hold my breath, though, because the GOBP doesn't seem to have many sane minds left.
Pull out your wallet, Andy. & shut your mouth.
I think that the RNC has made the right move in cancelling this event. A bit like closing the barn door after the horses have run out ... but closed a bit just the same. Now if only they would see the danger in more of their seemingly endless attempts at character assasination as opposed to working towards solutions our coutry so clearly needs.
RNC should not exist.
The RNC is having a terrible time getting donations and I think that's why this event was cancelled. This guy is a creep and I'm glad to hear that the lady is suing him. I hope she breaks him. At least he may think twice before he phonies up another video. I think the RNC consists of folks just like him so we need to get rid of all of them.
"The spokesman said the fundraiser was cancelled “To better capitalize on the fall fundraising season that happens post-Labor Day, while also lowering costs by utilizing existing trips to California.”"
Translation: We couldn't sell enough tickets to see this dirt ball.