A Congressional Black Caucus member said he would soon meet with the Republican lawmaker who claimed protesters against police shootings are motivated by hatred for whites, and said he needs to hear “something deeper” than a mere apology.
“I want to make sure he understands how wrong and insulting he is with that statement,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-New York, during an MSNBC interview on Friday. “Understanding there’s an apology, but there’s got to be something deeper, more said to him in that regard so he truly understands how devastated people are by that statement.”
North Carolina Republican Rep. Robert Pittenger has apologized for saying some of the protesters in Charlotte “hate white people because white people are successful and they’re not.” The representative said his intention was to explain how he believes Democrat supported welfare systems impede attempts by blacks to get out of poverty.
Meeks said he intends to schedule a meeting with Pittenger when the two go back to Congress next week. Meeks, who chairs the CBC PAC, said an apology from a public figure doesn’t necessarily reflect their actual attitudes, but could be for “political purposes or otherwise.”
“I’m sure he represents African-Americans, and how, you know, when you’re a public figure, you have to think about what you say and people then want to make sure that you are saying what you believe and sometimes that apology, you don’t know whether it’s for political purposes or otherwise,” he said.
Meeks joined the rest of the Congressional Black Caucus Thursday to demand that Attorney General Loretta Lynch launch a federal investigation after a series of fatal shootings of two black men by police inspired outrage across the country.
