http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/cliven-bundy-mlk-rosa-parks-offendedBundy: If People Are Offended By Me, Then MLK 'Didn't Do His Job'
CATHERINE THOMPSON – APRIL 25, 2014, 9:18 AM EDT
Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy said Friday that he doesn't believe his remarks on blacks and slavery were "offensive," and if other people take them that way, it means civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. "didn't do his job."
Bundy was pressed by CNN's Chris Cuomo to acknowledge that he offended people when he mused about whether blacks were "better off as slaves, picking cotton" than "under government subsidy," which was first highlighted by the New York Times.
In response, Bundy again slammed the media for portraying him as a racist while stressing that he supports civil rights. He invoked the example of Rosa Parks, saying "I want her to be able to sit anywhere in the bus and I want to be able to sit by her anywhere in that bus."
"Maybe I sinned and maybe I need to ask forgiveness … but you know when you talk about prejudice, we're talking about not being able to exercise what we think and are feeling," Bundy eventually conceded.
"If I say 'negro' or 'black boy' or 'slave,' I'm not -- if those people cannot take those kind of words and not be offensive then Martin Luther King didn't do his job," he added.