Outrage Over Barack Obama With Bullet Wound Halloween Pic Sent By Republicans
May 28 2018, Updated 10:10 a.m. ET
Senior RadarOnline.com Reporter
A Virginia county Republican Party committee has come under fire for sending out an email with a picture of President Barack Obama with a bullet wound to his head.
The Loudoun County GOP committee sent an email inviting supporters to a Halloween parade with the picture of the President depicted as a zombie with part of his skull missing and a bullet through his head.
The Republican Governor Robert F. McDonnell told the Washington Post that the email is “shameful and offensive.”
McDonnell’s spokesperson said: “He calls on those involved to apologize for their actions and to immediately ensure that such imagery is never used again. The governor has long stressed the need for more civility and respect in our politics. An e-mail like this one undermines those goals, offends all Virginians and discredits our entire political process. It will not be tolerated.”
The chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee tried to down-play the significance of the photo, saying the email was “a light-hearted attempt to inject satire humor into the Halloween holiday.
“Apparently, some individuals have interpreted an image of Barack Obama that appeared within the e-mail as intending to portray the president as a victim of a violent crime,’’ Mark Sell said. “Nothing could be further from the truth, and we deeply and sincerely apologize to the president and anyone who viewed the image if that was the impression that was left. The LCRC deplores any effort to display, suggest or promote violence against the President or any other political figure.”
The original email invite read: “LCRC members and Republican candidates: We are going to vanquish the zombies with clear thinking conservative principles and a truckload of Republican candy. . . . It’s fun and a great way to represent our candidates to a ton of voters (and their kids) just before the election.”
There have been other strong condemnations of the email, including from the chairman of the state party Pat Mullins who said: “The disgusting image used today on a mass e-mail has no place in our politics. Ever. The Republican Party of Virginia condemns the image and its use in the strongest possible terms.”