GOP fundraiser canceled after congressman claims Obama 'favors' blacks

The Republican Congressman who suggested that President Obama "has a default mechanism in him that breaks down [on] the side of race" has already been widely criticized for his remark. But adding insult to injury, even a Republican candidate has now canceled a fundraiser where Rep. Steve King (R-IA) was scheduled to speak on his behalf.

In an appearance Monday on G. Gordon Liddy's radio talk show, King reacted to a comment made several months ago by Attorney General Eric Holder that when it comes to race Americans are "in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards."

"When you look at this administration, I'm offended by Eric Holder and the President also, their posture," King remarked. "It looks like Eric Holder said that white people in America are cowards when it comes to race. And I don't know what the basis of that is but I'm not a coward when it comes to that and I'm happy to talk about these things and I think we should. But the President has demonstrated he's got a default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race -- on the side that favors the black person, in the case of Professor Gates and Officer Crowley."

King had previously been scheduled to speak at a $100 a plate fundraiser next Saturday on behalf of Colorado State Representative Cory Gardner, who is running for Congress against a Democratic incumbent, but according to the Coloradoan, that has now been canceled. Gardner's campaign manager, Chris Hansen, "informed the Coloradoan of the cancellation after the paper inquired about King's remarks" but offered no explanation.

As of Tuesday, the Colorodoan had been unable to reach King's office for a comment and could not confirm whether King was still scheduled to speak at a Tea Party rally on Saturday with Gardner and another Republican candidate.

The Des Moines Register reports that King's office has objected that the liberal website PoliticalCorrection.com unfairly made King's remarks appear racist by omitting his use of Professor Gates as an example. King has made similar statements in the past, however, as when he complained last month that President Obama had "politicized" the Arizona anti-illegal immigrant law by alleging "that it's race-based and racially motivated when the law itself specifically prohibits that from happening."

After the cancellation of the fundraiser was announced, Andy Stone, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, commented, "The event may have been canceled, but Congressman King's comments today are just the latest in a long line of inflammatory and offensive remarks, and Cory Gardner owes it to Colorado voters to explain whether he agrees with his guest or not."

This audio is from the G. Gordon Liddy Radio Show, uploaded by Real Clear Politics June 14, 2010.