After GOP Party Chairman Reince Priebus got into a heated shouting match on Monday with Chris Matthews over accusations that his party plays the "race card" against Obama, Republicans crowed that the clip showed the liberal media in its worst kind of attack mode. Race? We've never even heard of race!
That argument's going to be a little tougher this morning, as CNN confirms an RNC attendee was kicked out last night for abusing a black camerawoman, apparently by throwing nuts at her and yelling, "This is how we feed animals."
The news first broke via Current TV reporter David Shuster's Twitter feed:
A CNN spokesman later confirmed the general details to Talking Points Memo, telling the site that "CNN can confirm there was an incident directed at an employee inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum earlier this afternoon. CNN worked with convention officials to address this matter and will have no further comment."
Look, loonies infiltrate both parties and it's not as if the Republicans can erect a blatant racist detection system at the Forum's doorway (though if they could, Steve King may have to stay back in Iowa.)
The problem for the GOP is that these kind of stories reinforce the same narrative that Matthews hammered Priebus over on Monday: That by letting your presidential nominee make birther jokes and by pushing early voting and voter ID laws aimed explicitly at depressing the black turnout, the party is cow-towing to voters exactly like the creep booted from the convention last night.
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