Republican King ad raises controversy

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- An ad by Washington's National Black Republican Association has raised controversy by claiming Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican.

Frances Rice, chairman of the association, said he was surprised at the controversy surrounding the radio ad, which has run in the District, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

"We anticipated some controversy, but my goodness, we struck a nerve," she said.

The ad features the voices of two black women, one of whom says" "Dr. King was a real man," and the second responds: "You know he was a Republican." The women then say the Ku Klux Klan was founded by Democrats.

U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who participated in demonstrations with King in the 1960s, said the ads were an "insult to the legacy and the memory of Martin Luther King Jr." and "an affront to all that he stood for."

Some black Republicans have joined the criticism.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate and current Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele denounced the advertisement, and Donald Scoggins, president and a founding member of Republicans for Black Empowerment said the radio spot was a terrible idea.