After he called Atlanta congressman John Lewis a ’racist pig’ on social media, Republican politician Tommy Hunter is the target of protesters calling for him to step down from his county commissioner job.
Mr. Hunter took aim at the longtime Georgia Democrat and revered civil rights leader in a pair of Facebook posts published over the weekend after Mr. Lewis publicly criticized the legitimacy of President-elect Donald Trump in a recent interview.
Mr. Hunter’s Facebook posts have since disappeared from public view, but criticism directed his way has not. In a statement Monday, the chairman of the Gwinnett County Democratic Party said Mr. Hunter should resign in light of lashing out at the longtime lawmaker.
“The commissioner’s comments are reprehensible, unbecoming an elected official and we totally condemn them,” Gabe Okoye, chairman of the Gwinnett County Democratic Party, said in an email Monday, Dacula Patch reported. “Therefore, we call for his resignation.”
“Mr. Hunter left middle school ages ago and should find a more dignified manner in which to express himself. His remarks not only reflect poorly on himself but also on Gwinnett County. What business would want to come here when we have Commissioners who conduct themselves this way? This is in the national news!” he wrote.
Indeed, Mr. Hunter made headlines not long after he took to his personal Facebook page Saturday afternoon to weigh in on the row between Mr. Lewis and the president-elect.
“There ain’t one political pundit that didn’t say on November 9 that this would be Demonrats EXACT response to Trump winning,” reads the rest of his initial “racist pig” posting. “Demonrats do not live in reality. They believe the polls were right and THE REAL VOTES were wrong. What a bunch of idiots.”
In a second posting Sunday afternoon, Mr. Hunter wrote that Mr. Lewis’ congressional district is “drawn to keep him in power,” and that all “his wins are illegitimate.”
The “racist pig” post disappeared Monday morning, and access to the rest of Mr. Hunter’s other musings have since been restricted to his Facebook friends and followers, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Explaining his comments to the newspaper afterwards, Mr. Hunter said the “racist pig” remark was “probably an overreaction out of aggravation.”
“While I am grateful for what the Congressman did in Selma and other times during the civil rights movement, you get respect by showing respect,” the commissioner said. “He is using his fame as a way to continually divide the races and in this case standing on the very much unsubstantiated claim that the guy I voted for (Trump) is racist and only won because of Russians hacking the election — which, of course, we all know didn’t occur.”
The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that the Russian government directed an influence campaign aimed at interfering in the outcome of the 2016 president election ultimately won by Mr. Trump.
For his part, Mr. Lewis specifically cited the Russian hacking campaign when he questioned Mr. Trump’s legitimacy during the recent “Meet the Press” interview that drew ire from the president-elect and initiated their recent verbal squabble.
“I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,” Mr. Lewis told the news program. “I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.”
“Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results,” Mr. Trump fired back Saturday from his Twitter account. “All talk, talk, talk — no action or results. Sad!”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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