N.C. GOP Official Resigns After Interview Admission that New Voter ID Law is Racist

If Virginians need an example of why Virginia needs to see a complete Democrat sweep on November 5, 2013, they need look no farther than across Virginia's southern border to North Carolina.  Since the GOP takeover of the North Carolina state government, it has been a cavalcade of one batshit crazy, religiously extreme or racist bill after another being enacted.  Among such bills was one imposing draconian voter ID requirements. The goal? To disenfranchise blacks, young voters and minorities.  True to form, the myth of voter fraud has been dragged out to justify what was largely a thinly veiled move back toward the bad old days of Jim Crow.  As it does so well, the Daily Show convinced Republican precinct chairman of Buncombe County, N.C., Don Yelton (pictured above), to come on the show for an interview.  Not surprisingly, Yelton was coaxed into basically admitting that there was no voter fraud problem and that the bill was aimed at keeping "lazy blacks" from voting.  Yelton has now resigned and the GOP is trying to dodge the growing shit storm that has exploded.  Politico has details:

Conservative activist Don Yelton has stepped down from his position as Republican precinct chairman of Buncombe County, N.C., following controversial comments that aired Wednesday on the Daily Show.

The remarks were made during an interview with Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi, during which Mandvi and Yelton discussed efforts to pass new voter identification requirements into in North Carolina, a requirement that many critics argue will subdue voter turnout in the state.

“The law is going to kick the Democrats in the butt,” Yelton said. “If it hurts a bunch of college kids [that are] too lazy to get up off their bohonkas and go get a photo ID, so be it.  . . . .”

Yelton also made a series of racially incendiary remarks to Mandvi as they discussed the law.  “If it hurts a bunch of lazy blacks that want the government to give them everything, so be it,” Yelton added.

Following his controversial interview, the Buncombe county GOP Chairman Henry Mitchell vehemently distanced the party from Yelton’s comments.

Yelton stood by his comments on Thursday.  The comments that were made, that I said, I stand behind them. I believe them,” he told Mountain Xpress, a local alternative paper. 

During the Daily Show interview, Yelton rejected claims that he is racist.  “I’ve been called a bigot before,” Yelton said. “[And] as a matter of fact, one of my best friends is black.”

 

The GOP can try to flee from the racism of folks like Yelton, but racism is now a core characteristic of the GOP base.  In recent elections, local GOP officials in Hampton Roads have had to resign after disseminating racist jokes and commentary.