In an effort to tamp down the controversy surrounding a recent tweet, the Republican National Committee deployed its resident black media spokesman for an interview Wednesday on MSNBC.
Orlando Watson, who was hired in October to serve as the RNC’s “Communications Director for Black Media,” said during his appearance on the cable news channel that a tweet sent out by the organization last weekend praising civil rights icon Rosa Parks for “ending racism” was nothing more than a typo.
“And talking about a typo and a tweet, it’s old news,” Watson said.
When MSNBC host Thomas Roberts asked if it was “defensible” for GOP governors to reject the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, Watson took aim at President Barack Obama’s own record of helping the black community.
“What I don’t find defensible is after five years of, you know, living under President Obama, you know, he has little to show for what he’s done for the black community,” Watson said, before claiming that the health care law has “particularly” hurt the jobless rate in the black community.
“So while we’re focused on, you know, trying to create jobs, private sector jobs, good-paying jobs, career-making jobs, I would ask, you know, what exactly has the President done for the black community?” Watson said.
