Republican condemns ‘violent statement’ about Obama at Georgia town hall

GOP Rep. Paul Broun (Ga.) said Friday that he condemns an incident at his town hall event this week, where a man asked him, “Who is going to shoot Obama?”

The Athens Banner-Herald reported Wednesday that a man at a meet-and-greet event asked Broun the question, which prompted laughter from the audience. The conservative congressman said Friday that he condemns all statements that suggest the use of violence against the president and that his office contacted the “appropriate authorities.”

{mosads}”I deeply regret that this incident happened at all. Furthermore, I condemn all statements — made in sincerity or jest — that
threaten or suggest the use of violence against the president of the
United States or any other public official. Such rhetoric cannot and
will not be tolerated,” Broun said in a statement.

Broun faced questions from some liberal blogs and media outlets over his initial response at the Ogelthorpe County, Ga., gathering.

“The thing is, I know there’s a lot of frustration with this president,” he initially said, according to the Banner-Herald. “We’re going to have an election next year. Hopefully, we’ll elect somebody that’s going to be a conservative, limited-government president that will take a smaller, who will sign a bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare.”

Broun explained that he was “stunned” by the question “and chose not to dignify it with a response; therefore, at that moment I
moved on to the next person with a question.”

Last month, Broun rebuked President Obama in perhaps the strongest terms of any of his GOP colleagues during the State of the Union address, when he tweeted, “Mr. President, you don’t believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism.”