Mitt Romney Calls on Police Commissioner Who Called Obama the N-Word to 'Apologize and Resign'
Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has called on a defiant police commissioner in a small New Hampshire town to "apologize and resign" after he publicly referred to President Barack Obama as a "f**king n***er" and defended his use of the racial slur claiming Obama defines it.
"The vile epithet used and confirmed by the commissioner has no place in our community," said Romney, who owns a summer home in the small lakeside New Hampshire town of Wolfeboro, according to the Boston Herald. "He should apologize and resign."
Angry residents of Wolfeboro called for the resignation of their 82-year-old Police Commissioner Robert Copeland after it was revealed by concerned resident, Jane O'Toole, who overhead him using the slur to refer to Obama in March.
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"I was in a restaurant in downtown Wolfeboro, a gentleman asked Mr. Copeland if he watched the TV show Chronicle and he said, 'no, I don't watch TV because every time I turn it on, all I have to see is that f**king n***er,'" said O'Toole of the incident.
Copeland acknowledged using the slur, but instead of apologizing he defend the use to the racial slur in a defiant email to his colleagues, part of which was sent to O'Toole.
"I believe I did use the 'N' word in reference to the current occupant of the White House," Copeland wrote. "For this, I do not apologize -- he meets and exceeds my criteria for such."
As word spread of Copeland's defiance on the weekend, however, several other local politicians have also condemned the commissioner's use of the slur and called for him to resign.
Elizabeth Guyton, a spokeswoman for Scott Brown, who is seeking the GOP New Hampshire Senate nomination, noted in an email, "Scott Brown believes Commissioner Copeland's comments were reprehensible and he should resign."
Republican state Sen. Jeb Bradley of Wolfeboro called Copeland a family friend and said he spoke with him on Friday and encouraged him to not only resign but "really apologize."
"People around New England and around the United States should not look at the remarks of one person, who is refusing to resign so far, as indicative of how anyone else of Wolfeboro thinks," said Bradley.
"He can disagree with President Obama all he wants, but it's not right whether it's the president of the United States or any other American to be called what he was called … It's offensive."
