© Reuters/Jim Urquhart
Rancher Cliven Bundy
Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy defended comments he made regarding African Americans earlier this week, as his ongoing land rights feud with the federal government receded into the background over accusations that he is a racist.
Bundy has been praised by conservative politicians and right-leaning groups for taking a stand against what they see as overreach by the US government, which claims the rancher owes taxpayers $1 million in unpaid cattle grazing fees dating back to 1993. Bundy has refused to pay, saying he doesn't owe the government anything for operating on land his ancestors have used for more than a century.
As RT
reported previously, this led to an armed standoff between hundreds of armed federal officials and Bundy's own supporters - some of which included armed militia members from multiple states. That standoff ultimately ended when government officials left in order to avoid a violent escalation.
In the midst of the media firestorm that followed this event, Bundy seemingly placed the land rights conflict on the backburner by questioning whether African Americans were better off as slaves in a New York Times report.
Bundy was originally quoted saying that under government subsidy, African Americans - whom he referred to as "Negroes" -
"didn't have nothing to do."
"And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?" he asked.
"They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I've often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn't get no more freedom. They got less freedom."
Bundy's comments were quickly seized upon as evidence that the rancher was a racist. Politicians that had previously come out in support of his cause - Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) - quickly distanced themselves from the remarks.
"His remarks on race are offensive, and I wholeheartedly disagree with him," Paul said in a statement.
Heller, meanwhile, said he
"completely disagrees with Mr. Bundy's appalling and racist statements, and condemns them in the most strenuous way."
Comment: Religious fundamentalism could soon be treated as mental illness