Kobach Defends Remark On Obama Not Prosecuting Black Criminals

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) got himself into some hot water after he suggested on Sunday that President Obama may demand that black criminals not be prosecuted, prompting Kobach to defend his comments on Thursday.

During a Sunday discussion on the Kris Kobach Show, a caller told Kobach that “word is going to come down that there just won’t be any prosecutions of black criminals and I can see it happening.”

Kobach said that while he didn’t think it was likely, he felt it was possible.

“Well, it’s already happening, more or less, in the case of civil rights laws,” he said. “So I guess it’s not a huge jump. I think it’s unlikely but, you know, I’ve learned to say with this president never say never.”

He was referring to the November 2008 case dropped by the Justice Department, in which members of the New Black Panther Party were accused of voter intimidation.

The caller then mentioned that Attorney General Eric Holder purposefully ignored the case involving the New Black Panther Party.

“Well, he did more than ignore it,” Kobach responded. “He basically made it true and gave us a clue, through various public statements that the civil rights laws were only to protect minority races and he was not going to be enforcing them to the benefit of white people who are discriminated against on the basis of their race.”

When asked about his comments on Thursday, Kobach told the Kansas City Star that he doesn’t think the Obama administration will purposefully decline to prosecute black criminals, though he stood by his specific comments on the New Black Panther Party case.

“The point is the Obama administration has already done what the caller suggests in the context of voting civil rights statutes,” Kobach said. “So it’s already happened in one limited context. No, I don’t think it will happen in other contexts. I made it clear I don’t think that’s likely to happen.”

H/t Right Wing Watch