A Republican lawmaker says he stands by a social media post that called Black Lives Matter “the KKK in blackface.”
Rep. Rick Becker of Bismarck shared an image on his campaign Facebook page Monday evening. The image included a quote from political commentator Christian Walker, who said “BLM is just the KKK in blackface” in an appearance on the Glenn Beck Program on August 20th.
Rep. Becker told KX News that he later edited the post “in an effort to be less incendiary,” clarifying that he meant to “call out” the “formal organization” of Black Lives Matter, not the broader movement.
“The formal organization — it’s really hijacked a virtue or a principle that pretty much everyone would agree with: wanting equality and wanting to eliminate police brutality,” Rep. Becker said. “I don’t know who would not be in favor of those things.”
The Black Lives Matter Network itself is not a centralized group; according to its website, it “began as “a chapter-based, member-led organization.”
Rep. Becker says he deleted the post from his social media page when he realized it may have contained a copyrighted image. “As that post was edited, I stand by it,” he says.
