RICHMOND — U.S. Rep. Robert Hurt (R-Va.) said President Obama is responsible for "fanning the flames" of anti-police sentiment that contributed to the shooting deaths of five Dallas police officers.
He made the comments during a conservative radio show on Monday, the day before Obama spoke at a Dallas memorial service alongside former president George W. Bush.
In his speech, Obama praised the five slain officers and attempted to defuse racial tensions that have erupted across the nation in the past week. He spoke about the important role that police play in society, and the dangers of their work. And he acknowledged the fear and pain of African Americans who feel targeted by police.
Hurt's comments contrasted sharply with those of Obama and Bush, as many of the nation's leaders are calling for unity and healing after a spate of shootings by white police officers of unarmed black men.
A spokeswoman for Hurt did not respond to a message seeking comment.
In a 14-minute-long interview with John Fredericks, who is vice chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Hurt said the nation has progressed from days of systemic discrimination.
“This president over his eight years, strictly in my opinion for political purposes, to misuse that history in a way to promote his own political agenda, I just think it’s wrong, I think it’s despicable frankly,” Hurt said. “Now we’re seeing him reap what he has sowed.”
The comments, first reported by the website Right Wing Watch, jibe with those of Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart, a Republican who plans to run for governor, who blamed Democrats, including presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, for the police massacre. Stewart is chairman of Trump's campaign in Virginia.
Hurt, a lawyer from Pittsylvania County who has earned praise from Democrats for bipartisanship on local issues on local issues, said children are growing up in a country with less overt racism than their grandparents knew.
Yet, Obama “tosses all that aside and pretends that we have all of this horrible racial strife where frankly it’s hard for me to see that we have it, certainly to the degree that he suggests,” he said. “He has fanned these flames.”
Virginia Democratic spokeswoman Emily Bolton said Hurt’s comments were “unacceptable and appalling.”
A Washington Post analysis published last week found black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be fatally shot by police officers.
