GOP congressman stammers as CNN’s Poppy Harlow grills him for not denouncing Trump's racism

Congressman Mark Walker, Republican of North Carolina, was stuck between a rock and a hard place Friday on CNN, when he tried to claim the GOP needs to work harder to reach out to minorities, while simultaneously downplaying President Trump's growing list of racist statements and tweets. But Poppy Harlow was having none of it.

Asked whether the GOP was "doing enough to bring African-Americans and minorities in," Walker admitted "I believe there's a lot of improvements to be made."

But when he reminded Harlow that he believes "individual liberty and opportunity, prosperity should be good for all of our communities" and that he had been "the first elected Republican to speak at the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Foundation," things went downhill fast.

When Harlow asked if Walker's job was complicated by the fact that "the president says things like calling Omarosa 'a dog' or LeBron James 'dumb' or peddling birtherism claims about President Obama for years or pointing to both sides in Charlottesville," the Congressman stammered and not only blamed President Obama, he used his own children as human shields.

"Sometimes it can be difficult to explain some of the tweets, there's no question about that," Walker rambled nervously. "What we're trying to do is look at the results instead of the personalities sometimes. I have three children, I think you have a couple as well. We want to set good standards. President Obama was a good man, had a good marriage. I'd love for my children to exemplify that component."

"But you cannot deny his policy added people into the poverty arena," Walker added before launching into a defense of Trump's policies.

Harlow, unimpressed, continued to press the issue, saying "Really? Is that it? Do you not find -- the way that you stand up for African-Americans in your district, do you not find some of the president has said racist?"

Cornered, Walker admitted that the president's tweets were "offensive", but insisted that "to label someone as a racist is sometimes trying to judge where their heart's intent."

"I get that. Character, integrity and class matter," he said almost dismissively. "But we want to make sure we don't get distracted."

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