WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Republican National Committee said Saturday he was “shocked and appalled” that one of his potential successors had sent committee members a CD this Christmas featuring a 2007 song called “Barack the Magic Negro,” sung to the music of “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
In the wake of RNC chairman Robert M. “Mike” Duncan’s admonishment, former Tennessee GOP leader Chip Saltsman said that party leaders should stand up to criticism over sending out the song on a CD. He earlier defended the song as one of several “lighthearted political parodies” that have aired on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show.
Saltsman, who ran former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign, is seeking the top RNC post.
A spokesman for President- elect Barack Obama declined to comment.
