OK Rep. Posts ‘Anchor Baby’ 32 Times on Facebook: ‘I’m Sick of Political Correctness’

Paul-Wesselhoft-Oklahoma-state-representative-AP

Saying he was “sick of political correctness gone amuck,” an Oklahoma state representative posted the words “anchor baby” to his Facebook page 32 times in a row in order to make a statement.

Representative Paul Wesselhoft of Moore, Oklahoma, a southern suburb of Oklahoma City, told constituents that he was only trying to start a discussion on the errors of political correctness by posting the words 32 times in a row.

“I think that you can see from the debates on television that people are kind of fed up with this political correctness,” Wesselhoft told News 4 on Tuesday. “Some of it might be ok. But some of it has gone overboard.”

Wesselhoft went on to say that he finds it offensive that women come here to have their babies just to get free services and welfare payments.

“If the term is somehow offensive, well I’m kind of offended that these women are pregnant coming here having babies and I have to pay for it with my tax money,” the rep. said. “We have enough to spend on our own citizens that were here already.”

The Oklahoma Democrat Party immediately criticized Wesselhoft, saying the term was “derogatory.”

Wesselhoft countered saying that maybe the term could be updated as “foundation baby” but did not back off of his stance that it is offensive that foreigners use our system to get freebies. He also insisted that he had a First Amendment right to say what he wanted on the subject.

The term “anchor baby” recently came up in the presidential campaign of Jeb Bush, who was confronted over using the term in a radio interview last week. This week, Bush insisted that the term “anchor baby” was more apropos for Asian immigrants these days than it is for Mexicans.

Bush went on to proclaim his support of birthright citizenship.

Despite Bush’s attempt to wiggle away from the controversy his remarks stirred, primary opponent Donald Trump slammed Bush’s change in focus as a “clumsy move” to get out of his “anchor baby dilemma.”

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.

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