Republican Rep. Lynn Jenkins from Kansas received a death threat at her office after using the phrase “great white hope” during a town hall meeting.
The AP is shocked that such a phrase would be used during the age of Obama:
A freshman Kansas congresswoman said Thursday that her remark about fellow Republicans seeking a “great white hope” was not a reference to someone who could challenge President Barack Obama or his political agenda.
Rep. Lynn Jenkins said she was instead making a comment about GOP leaders in the House and was trying to reassure Republicans that the party has bright leaders there. She used the phrase during an Aug. 19 forum in Hiawatha and someone in the crowd recorded it and gave the video to the Kansas Democratic Party.
Both she and an aide apologized Thursday if the comment offended anyone. But when she was asked about the remark after a town hall meeting in Ottawa, Jenkins also suggested it had been taken out of context.
“Let’s remember the context of this situation,” she said. “I don’t know how the president got injected into this debate.”
Patrick Leopold, Jenkins’ chief of staff, said her office in Pittsburg received a death threat Thursday, but he didn’t know whether it was connected to any specific issue. He said the matter was being turned over to police.