Richard Cohen & the Gag Reflex

In his most recent column Christie's tea-party problem (11/11/2013), Richard Cohen, Washington Post syndicated columnist wrote:

"Today’s GOP is not racist, as Harry Belafonte alleged about the tea party, but it is deeply troubled — about the expansion of government, about immigration, about secularism, about the mainstreaming of what used to be the avant-garde. People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York — a white man married to a black woman and with two biracial children. (Should I mention that Bill de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, used to be a lesbian?) This family represents the cultural changes that have enveloped parts — but not all — of America. To cultural conservatives, this doesn’t look like their country at all."

Cohen was criticized for these racist remarks (see commentary at Slate and Jezebel, among many) and he has since responded:

"The column is about Tea Party extremism and I was not expressing my views, I was expressing the views of what I think some people in the Tea Party held.” (via Salon)

The Washington Post covers the controversy here. 

Read the original column in full here.