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GOP Senate Candidate: Obama Is Dodging Impeachment Because He Isn't White

GOP Senate Candidate: Obama Is Dodging Impeachment Because He Isn't White
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Politics Social Media Editor, HuffPost

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A Republican Senate candidate thinks President Barack Obama would face a much greater risk of impeachment if he were white.

Iowa conservative Sam Clovis, who is vying to succeed retiring Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), admitted Tuesday that he doesn't think Obama should be impeached. It's not that the president's actions don't warrant impeachment, he explained to The Daily Times Herald, but that the American people aren't "ready for it."

"Within this generation we went through an impeachment of a president and it didn't end well," Clovis said, "and now we have a situation where race is thrown into the card as well. So whether we like it or not, race is an issue."

Clovis, a retired Air Force colonel, former talk show host and current college professor, suggested there are members of Congress who would approach the situation differently if Obama were white.

"I would say there are people in the House of Representatives right now that would very much like to take the opportunity to start the process," Clovis said of impeaching Obama. "And I think the reason that they're not is because they're concerned about the media."

"They're concerned about the media in the context of how we would cover it because he's a black president?" the Herald asked.

"Yes," Clovis responded.

Clovis faces six other candidates in the Republican primary to run for Harkin's Senate seat. The primary will take place in June.

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Before You Go

Obama Impeachment Watch
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah)(01 of09)
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Chaffetz has said Obama's impeachment was "within the realm of possibilities." Chaffetz later doubled down on the possibility, claiming the Obama administration was "embroiled in a scandal that they created.""It's a cover-up," Chaffetz said of the administration's response to the attack in Benghazi. "I'm not saying impeachment is the end game, but it's a possibility, especially if they keep doing little to help us learn more." (credit:AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)(02 of09)
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Paul has said talk of impeachment is premature."We need to figure out the truth of what happened [with the IRS scandal] before we go anywhere else," Paul said. (credit:AP)
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.)(03 of09)
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Bachmann appeared happy to further whispers of impeachment, telling a crowd at a tea party rally in May that she's asked every weekend: "Why aren't you impeaching the president?" (credit:AP)
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus(04 of09)
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The Republican National Committee chairman has said he thinks it's too soon to float the possibility of impeachment, according to the Associated Press."There's a few chapters before we get to the last one," Priebus told reporters in May. "So it's up to us to connect the dots first." (credit:Getty Images)
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)(05 of09)
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In May, Inhofe accused Obama for "the most egregious cover-up in American history," according to Defense News.Inhofe then hinted at impeachment, claiming that “people may be starting to use the ‘I word.’” (credit:Axel Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.)(06 of09)
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When asked in May, Cole did not support fellow Republicans' suggestion that Benghazi resembled the Watergate scandal. He went on to say that he did not think Obama should be impeached over the controversy. (credit:AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R)(07 of09)
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Huckabee has said he doesn't believe president Obama "will fill out his full term” due to questions about Benghazi."As bad as Watergate was because it broke the trust between the president and the people, no one died," Huckabee said. "This is more serious because four Americans did in fact die. And President Obama has yet to explain why did they die." (credit:AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)(08 of09)
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McCain refused to back impeachment over Benghazi in May, claiming he was willing to give the president "the benefit of the doubt" on some remaining questions. (credit:AP Photo/Matt York)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)(09 of09)
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Collins said in May that she wasn't willing to talk about impeachment "at this point," but she acknowledged the allegations were "serious." (credit:AP)
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