Black lawmakers denounce Kirk for calling Obama “drug dealer in chief”

By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News

(CHICAGO)  A group of black politicians is denouncing Illinois Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, after he referred to President Obama as a “drug dealer in chief.”   Kirk made the comment in an interview with the Springfield State Journal Register newspaper, as he criticized Obama for the U.S. paying $400 million dollars in cash to Iran, at the same time that country freed a group of Americans who were held in captivity.

State Senator Toi Hutchinson issued a statement saying  “Mark Kirk may be running away from his party to save his seat, but his characterization of Barack Obama as the ‘drug dealer’ demonstrates that he is embracing Trumps racial strategies to de-legitimize an African American president.”

State Representative Christian Mitchell said “Senator Mark Kirk needs to apologize immediately for his inappropriate and racially-charged comments about President Obama, which offend not only African-Americans, but all Illinoisans. This is, sadly, not the first time Senator Kirk has delivered a racially motivated remark beneath the dignity of his office, including when he said people ‘drive faster through’ black neighborhoods. For those of us – of all races – who live in those neighborhoods, we need a Senator who fights for our community, rather than insulting it.”

Kirk has said the payment to the Iranians represented a ransom payment.   The Obama administration has denied that but admitted using the payment of money owed to Iran dating back to the 1970’s, as leverage.

Kirk is locked in a tight re-election battle with Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth.    On Monday, former Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was severely wounded in a 2011 mass shooting, endorsed Kirk over Duckworth, because of the Senator’s support for gun control measures.

@ 2016 WLS-AM News

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