Rep. John Barrow (D-GA) has refused to condemn racially-charged remarks made by Rev. Joseph Lowery, who gave the benediction at President Barack Obama’s inauguration, at a Georgia Democratic rally.
“If Obama was white, there would be no question on who was going to win,” Lowery said, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
According to Georgia Tipsheet, Barrow’s spokespersons did not comment when asked if Barrow took exception to Lowery’s sentiment. Barrow spoke after Lowery but those attending the rally could not confirm if Barrow was present in the room when Lowery made his remarks.
Lee Anderson is running to unseat Barrow, and GOP officials called Barrow’s silence “shameful.”
“John Barrow wants Georgians to believe that he’ll withstand the crushing weight of Democratic congressional leadership and possibly a reelected president,” a GOP official told Georgia Tipsheet. “But he can’t even manage the backbone to condemn shameful racial rhetoric when it’s made within earshot.”
Lowery once criticized Barrow, the last remaining white Democrat from the deep South, for his vote to censure U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for refusing to turn over documents related to the “Fast and Furious” investigations.
“I told him, ‘You are a Republican hiding in Democrat’s clothing,'” Lowery said of Barrow then, according to Georgia Tipsheet. “He doesn’t count in the Democratic column. He might as well go on and be a Republican.”
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