House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has pulled back his endorsement of congressional candidate Ted Howze after he became aware of the candidate's racists and anti-Muslim social media posts.
"In light of Mr. Howze's disappointing comments, Leader McCarthy has withdrawn his endorsement," Drew Florio, a McCarthy spokesperson, said in a statement, according to Politico. "As the Leader has previously stated, hateful rhetoric has no place within the Republican Party."
Howse accused the Black Lives Matter movement of "vot[ing] in lock step for the same political party who held you as physical slaves and now wish to keep you as political slaves unable to effect any real change for the better."
He also said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was "hitting the crack pipe too hard" and asked if "a Muslim [can] ever truly be a good American citizen."
Howse is running against Rep. Josh Harder, D-Calif.
McCarthy came out against the posts last week without fully pulling his endorsement of Howse. He said, "The content in question on Mr. Howze's social media channels is disappointing and disturbing. Bigotry and hateful rhetoric — in any form — have no place in the Republican Party. These posts are unacceptable and do not reflect the Mr. Howze that I have briefly interacted with."
"We've talked with Leader McCarthy," Howze said in a video. "They've told us, keep doing what we're doing. Raise money. If in September we are one of the competitive races in California that they will be here to come into the race."
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