St. Petersburg anti-tax activist David McKalip sends out Barack Obama-as-witch doctor e-mail photo
July 23, 2009 at 3:27 pm by Wayne GarciaFRIDAY AM UPDATE: He’s apologized. And he then resigned as president-elect of the Pinellas Medical Association.
Talking Points Memo is breaking the story that well known local brain surgeon and anti-tax crusader David McKalip forwarded this photoshopped illustration of President Barack Obama to a Tea Party e-mail group:
TPMuckraker calls it the latest example of online anti-Obama racism on behalf of conservatives. And McKalip told TPMuckraker:
McKalip said he believes that by depicting the president as an African witch doctor, the “artist” who created the image “was expressing concerns that the health-care proposals [made by President Obama] would make the quality of medical care worse in our country.” McKalip said he didn’t know who created it.
But pressed on what was funny about an image that plays on racist stereotypes about Africans, McKalip declined to say, instead offering to talk about why he opposes Obama’s health-care proposals.
“I have a busy day,” he said eventually, before ending the call.
McKalip is also against spending tax dollars on the homeless, as you may recall from earlier CL coverage.
