Virginia GOP branch won't remove Obama "witch doctor" pics

An affiliate of the state Republican Party said it won't take down some offensive Facebook pictures

Published September 26, 2012 3:53PM (EDT)

The Mecklenburg County Republican Committee refuses to take down a series of race-baiting pictures of President Obama from its Facebook page, despite the requests of the Virginia Republican Party.

The Washington Post reports that the state GOP ordered the MCRC to remove the pictures, which depict various anti-Obama and birther messages (such as, "vote for the American"), and one infamous picture that depicts Obama as a witch doctor. The pictures have been up for several months, but got a bunch of attention after Senate candidate George Allen stopped in the area.

"These kinds of images have no place in political discourse — period,” Pat Mullins, chair of the Republican Party of Virginia, told the Post. “They are offensive, tasteless and should never have been posted anywhere, let alone a local unit’s Facebook page. The Republican Party of Virginia condemns this sort of imagery in the strongest possible terms. I am in the process of contacting our Mecklenburg County unit to inform them that this is unacceptable behavior from any local unit associated with our party.”

When told of backlash against the pictures, R. Wallace “Wally” Hudson, who chairs the MCRC, said he put the pictures up himself. "We don’t consider any of it racist ... I’m not ashamed of it. I mean, good God, you should have seen some of the images they did of George [W.] Bush. It’s freedom of speech." He added: “If they’ve got a problem with it, we’re not going to change what we do.”

“They can do what they want,” Hudson said of the state GOP. “I’m waiting for the phone call.”


By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

MORE FROM Jillian Rayfield


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2012 Elections Barack Obama George Allen Tim Kaine Virginia