A town official in Wolfeboro, N.H., says he will not apologize for using the N-word to describe President Obama.
But 82-year-old Bob Copeland, a member of the town’s three-person police commission, says he is no racist and doesn’t harbor hate for anybody, the Union Leader newspaper reported.
“I have a level of respect I expect of people in public office, which applies to me, and this man in the White House does not measure up. When that occurs, I do upon occasion use slang expressions to refer to them,” Mr. Copeland said in an interview Wednesday with the newspaper.
The remarks, which will be discussed at the commission’s regular meeting Thursday, came to light after a woman overheard them at a local restaurant and blogged about it on Facebook, the Union Leader reports.
The woman, Jane O’Toole, said she knows Mr. Copeland has a right to say what he wants, but she worried about the implications for his public position.
According to the Union Leader, Mr. Copeland stated he did use the N-word “in reference to the current occupant of the White House.”
“For this I do not apologize — he meets and exceeds my criteria for such,” he said, the paper reported.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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