Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.) said Thursday that he "regrets" telling the BBC during an interview that protesters in Charlotte "hate white people."
The protests against the deadly officer-involved shooting of a black man on Tuesday are being attended by people of all races. Pittenger, whose district includes areas of Charlotte where the protests are taking place, was asked by the BBC to describe the "grievance" of demonstrators. "The grievance in their minds — the animus, the anger — they hate white people because white people are successful and they're not," Pittenger said. "It is a welfare state. We have spent trillions of dollars on welfare, but we've put people in bondage, so they can't be all they're capable of being."
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