Entertainer Harry Belafonte attacked the conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch on Sunday at a church service by suggesting they influence those who “would belong to the Ku Klux Klan.” 
At the service he attended while campaigning for Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, the 86 year-old Belafonte said the Tea-Party-supporting moguls are flooding the country with money. He suggested the brothers have also started to “buy their way in” to New York City politics, starting with the medical care system.
Belafonte said,
“Already we have lost 14 states in this union to the most corrupt group of citizens I’ve ever known. They make up the heart and the thinking in the minds of those who would belong to the Ku Klux Klan. They are white supremacists. They are men of evil. They have names. They are flooding our country with money.
They’ve come into to New York City. They are beginning to buy their way in to city politics. They are pouring money into Presbyterian Hospital to take over the medical care system. The Koch brothers, that’s their name. Their money is already sewn into the fabric of our daily system, and they must be stopped.”
The Koch Bothers usually don’t address attacks made by liberals, but made a rare exception in this case. Spokesman Rob Tappan issued a statement to Politico:
“Mr. Belafonte’s comments are false and reprehensible,” Tappan said. “His comments are divisive and destructive, and are indicative of the type of hateful rhetoric that leads to the breakdown of a civil and respectful society.”
He added, “It is unfortunate that he and others choose to make such false comments about Charles Koch and David Koch, who have devoted their lives to advancing tolerance and a free society — where every individual is judged on his or her individual merits and they are free to make decisions about their lives.”
According to Capital New York, when asked about Belafonte’s remarks by reporters, de Blasio distanced himself by replying, “I disagree with that characterization. … That was the wrong way to talk about them.” The report added that De Blasio was short with reporters when he didn’t condemn Belafonte for the remarks saying, “I’m here mentioning it with you guys. Next.”
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Kimberley A. Johnson (BIO) is the author of The Virgin Diaries and an activist for women’s rights. Like her on Facebook, Twitter or follow her on FB HERE. |
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