Virginia GOP nominee compared Planned Parenthood to KKK
(CNN) - An outspoken and provocative conservative who emerged from Saturday's Republican Party of Virginia Convention as the party's nominee for lieutenant governor once compared Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan and blasted African-Americans for their "slavish devotion" to the Democratic Party.
E.W. Jackson, an African-American pastor and attorney from Chesapeake, made the comments in a self-produced "message to black Christians" posted on YouTube last year.
"The Democrat Party has created an unholy alliance between certain so-called civil rights leaders and Planned Parenthood, which has killed unborn black babies by the tens of millions. Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was," he said in the video. "And the Democrat Party and the black civil rights allies are partners in this genocide."
Sensing an opportunity to tie Jackson to the rest of the Republican ticket in Virginia, especially conservative gubernatorial nominee Ken Cuccinelli, Democrats have already started highlighting those remarks and others in emails to reporters.
Cuccinelli, the state Attorney General, will face Democrat Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman, in the November election.
"Extremely divisive rhetoric from Jackson and Cuccinelli reflects the social agenda they would impose on Virginia. At a time when Virginians are looking for leaders who focus on jobs, the Tea Party has nominated a ticket whose careers have been defined by a radical social agenda," McAuliffe campaign spokesman Brennan Bilberry said in a statement.
Cuccinelli and Jackson were nominated at Saturday's GOP convention in Richmond, where Jackson beat out six other candidates for the number two spot on the ticket. Party activists tapped Mark Obenshain to be their nominee for attorney general.
Jackson, the founder of a nondenominational church, is a former Marine and graduate of Harvard Law School. But he is rapidly becoming known for a raft of controversial statements that have bubbled up online in the wake of his surprise victory on Saturday. He has publicly questioned President Barack Obama's faith and has been spearheading efforts to recruit black Democrats to the GOP since last year, when he unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Virginia.
"Shame on us for allowing ourselves to be sold to the highest bidder. We belong to God," he said in the video. "Our ancestors were sold against their will centuries ago, but we're going through the slave market voluntarily today."
As lieutenant governor, Jackson would hold the tie-breaking vote in what is currently an evenly divided state Senate. Republicans currently hold the lieutenant governorship and control of the 40-seat body. But with the unpolished Jackson as the GOP nominee, Democrats are now a safe bet to pick up the lieutenant governor's office and control of the senate.
Democrats will decide their nominee in a June 11 primary. To the frustration of establishment Republicans, GOP activists in the state chose to nominate their candidates at a convention instead of in a primary, a move that gave a relatively small group of conservative activists control over the nomination process.
A purple state, Virginia currently has a Republican governor, Bob McDonnell, but voted for Obama in the last two presidential elections.
Poll numbers so far show neither party with a sizable lead in the race, less than six months before Election Day. Because Virginia voters elect the governor and lieutenant governor separately, it's possible that the winners could be from different parties.
- CNN's Peter Hamby and Ashley Killough contributed to this report.
Somehow republicans find a fresh, new way to make themselves look incredibly stupid to the rest of the human race every day. Amazing.
Why would black people want to support a party that looks down on them and treats them like dirt? This is why the GOP had a "black problem"
choice choice choice.
I don't think the KKK offered much in the way of choice.
The KKK/GOP references are interesting since the KKK originated by Threatening and Murdering White and Black republicans to suppress the Black vote and force the Republicans out of office in favor of Segregation Democrats.
Another pathetic politician who points fingers in his $500 suit, but does nothing to actually solve problems... not to mention the religious undertones of his "message"... tell me Mr. Jackson, how many of those who went to PP for an abortion were dragged there in chains? You insult each and every black man and woman murdered by the KKK with your conservative, religious rhetoric... why don't you speak bluntly to all the mothers of those aborted black babies? I'm guessing it's because that might cost you a vote or two... please keep your religious beliefs out of the political arena....
This guy sounds crazy enough to get elected...
As an independent voter for 30+ years I am fascinated by the self-destructive attitude that the Republican Party has assumed. Every time they open their mouth I am reminded by our history far we have come as a Nation. Were they absent during history classes? The reality of the Republican and Tea Party message frightens me because they are so completely clueless with their antiquity and arbitary rhetoric. They are rewriting our National history and hope that We the People are stupid enough to buy into their propoganda. I seriously doubt if any of them would even recognize our Bill of Rights.
The number of abortions that Planned Parenthood performs annually is statistically insignificant. Certainly not the thousands or millions this "candidate" ascertains. PP does vastly more than just provide what Roe v. Wade made lawful but has been slowly whittled away for years ... the right to control her own body. The GOP/TP care not about personal freedoms and rights. Oh, they ARE until your rights cross their threshold. Then, they AREN'T for personal rights. Cutting pap smears and all of the other necessary functions PP performs will have a huge negative impact on all of society, from the bottom up. But who cares about wht poor women need? Certain not these ... people.
Sure let's bring another mouth piece who is bent on creating a divide in the nation into the political scene. When will the G.O.P. stop trying to encourage hate and dissention on the country?
I got an email from one of these GOP groups that read like a panic ad that was clearly designed for informationally challenged folks. These people should know all about the KKK as they are using their tactics to spread fear and lies.
It would be nice if they really believe they are a party that represents the "Christian" faith if they could take a lesson from Jesus and take care of the poor and oppressed and not just claim Jesus when they need votes.
@Historian
It is because when the Civil Rights Act passed the segregationist members of the Democratic Party left and tried to start their own party. When that failed they joined the GOP, where they were welcomed with open arms.
he blasts planned parenthood with family planning and abortions for people who often use the service because they can't afford the kids.. so they should have the kids and end up on welfare? oh wait republicans don't like that either. soooo they should just end up with mouths they can't afford to feed! good idea there 😛
If the single mother is raped, or otherwise feels that the unborn fetus is something she would hate for it's life, she is best to either put it out for adoption, or abort it. If the chances for adoption for an AfricanAmerican child are very slim, which is a realistic condition, then that leaves no other choice. An unwanted child in any direction is a child in jeopary from the get-go. We have a few too many million of these in the US right now, and the result is drugs, crime, neglect, a failed education system, and wretched poverty. Remember the old Supremes song "Love Child"? Never quite as good? If it was me, I'd opt for abortion every time. It's doing society a favor.
How do you like the 'new GOP' and the rollout of their minority outreach campaign so far, folks? Headline grabbing.
In the first place, the KKK was a bunch of bigots who wanted to kill blacks SPECIFICALLY. Planned Parenthood is a group that works with women of all colors. And in the case of the KKK; while I don't know this for sure, I'd venture to say the group was predominantly conservative(a.k.a. REPUBLICAN.) Planned Parenthood is not aligned with one political party or the other. Finally, while it's a tragic thing to lose a child through abortion. But in many cases it's necessary due to low income of the mother, or serious health risks to the mother. The KKK just killed because blacks were a different color and considered inferior. Now tell me again how Planned Parenthood is worse than the KKK?
I thought that the GOP was supposed to stop acting like the "stupid party".
Nobody thinks Planned Parenthood is like the KKK. What other bizarre "facts" are they going to spew today.....
@Sam Not true. The segregationist Democrats controlled Political power in all the southern states within 15 years after the end of the civil war.
Well, if the KKK ever helped people by providing medical care, education, and social service recommendations and could be seen as making better lives and better futures for all the people they helped, then I suppose it's a fair comparison. Funny, I always thought the KKK was about fear and intimidation and cowardice.
Agreed, he is definitely an embarrassment to our race.
WOW ....What happened to the Republican party smh
"Remember when Planned Parenthood burned a cross in my front yard?" said no one ever
Appantly any mention of Margaret Sanger (PP founder) and her racist affiliation with KKK and planned eugentics is filtered out form this post? Why would CNN protect her to hide the fact that this man's comments actually have a ring of truth to them?
"Attorney and pastor" not sure if that is an oxymoron or a match made in hell.
The Fright Wing faction of the GOP is alive and well in the African American community it apprears.
The comparison is valid. Blacks are about 12% of the US population and over 35% of the abortions. The KKK and Planned Parenthood both were created by Democrats to suppress US blacks.