Florida Congressman Allen West appeared on Fox & Friends this morning to discuss a campaign commercial released by his rival that shows him punching an old white woman in the face. Mr. West, who is African-American, said he believes the ad is evidence of a double standard where liberals are not rebuked for making racially charged attacks that would get conservatives in hot
‘Think about this, think about if the Republican Party or a conservative PAC ran a picture of a black Democratic politician or congressman punching white women and white seniors. I’m sure that MSNBC, NBC and the Huffington Post and everyone would be going apopleptic right now,” said Mr. West. “But once again, there are different rules.”
Mr. West said liberals feel like it is open season for them to target black conservatives because the Democratic Party has African-American activists, specifically the NAACP and the reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, “well-placed.” As evidence of this, he cited the fact that none of these activists came to his aid when the controversial ad was released.
“I think that on the left, they believe that when you look at black conservatives especially, they feel that they have an open game,” Mr. West said. “You know, where’s the outrage from Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton and the NAACP about this? They’re not going to say anything because they’re nothing but an effective wing of the Democratic Party whatsoever. And they have effectively kept them well-placed so that they can continue to make sure that they have a black electorate voting bloc.”
Mr. West also said he believes the attack ad ran against him may have been illegal. The ad was released by the American Sunrise PAC, which supports Mr. West’s Democratic opponent, Patrick Murphy, and is run by Mr. Murphy’s father, Thomas Murphy Jr. PACs are prohibited by law from coordinating with campaigns.
“I would find it hard to believe that the son does not know that the dad is running this super PAC and what the dad is doing,” said Mr. West. “And so, again, if this was something happening on the Republican side or the conservative side you would see the liberal media just going just crazy, but there are different rules that apply to them. There’s different rules as far as integrity and character.”
Watch a video of Mr. West’s Fox & Friends appearance below.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oF6n1fYzOc]
