Former NPR Exec Caught Calling Tea Party 'Racist'

James O'Keefe runs sting on organization
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 8, 2011 11:54 AM CST

James O'Keefe is at it again. This time, he had some actors pose as members of a Muslim educational organization and offer to donate $5 million to NPR, the Daily Caller reports. That scored them a meeting with then-NPR fundraising executive Ron Schiller, who proceeds to summarily bash Republicans, whose party he says has been "hijacked" by Tea Partiers who are "not only Islamophobic but really xenophobic, I mean basically they believe in sort of white, middle America, gun-toting... I mean, it's pretty scary. They're seriously racist, racist people."

Schiller also opines that "liberals today might be more educated, fair, and balanced than conservatives," and that the country needs "Muslim voices in our schools, on the air," and that people "who own the newspapers" are biased in favor of Israel. NPR has responded to the video by saying it's "appalled" by Schiller's comments, which are "contrary to what NPR stands for." But it adds that the "fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check, with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept." Schiller left NPR last week, according to the Washington Post. (More Ron Schiller stories.)

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