Michigan GOP darling John James, a two-time U.S. Senate candidate, said he was called a racial slur while on vacation in Florida.
In a video posted on Twitter on Monday, James said a man in “a big pickup truck rolls by and screams out the window, ‘Die, [N-word].’”
“You know what I did? I kept walking,” James, now sporting a goatee, said. “There’s nothing I can do about that jackass over there.”
He added, “My mom and dad taught me there’s always going to be hateful people in the world. You can never control what they think or what they say. But you can control what you think and what you say.”
Still, he says the incident left him angry.
He added that one of the thoughts that flashed in his head was, “Maybe I should just burn all these houses down, that's what people seem to be doing these days.”
I want to encourage anyone out there who’s ever dealt with racism because... of the color of their skin or who’s ever been lumped in with racists because... of the color of their skin.
— John James (@JohnJamesMI) February 16, 2021
Hate is hate but love is stronger than hate. pic.twitter.com/TrFAORL47c
In November, James lost a narrow race against U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township.
James initially refused to concede and urged state canvassers to delay certification of the statewide election results.
James, a West Point graduate who served eight years in the Army, ran against three-term Sen. Debbie Stabenow in the 2018 midterm elections. He lost by 6.5 percentage points.
Since then, James has been a favorite of the Michigan Republican Party and was endorsed by Trump.
Stay on top of Detroit news and views. Sign up for our weekly issue newsletter delivered each Wednesday.
