UPDATE: Since this blog was first published, Sen. Osmek complained that the reported location of the meeting was incorrect. Our mistake. He, however, did not refute any of the statements he or Horowitz made at the meeting.

Minnesota State Senator David Osmek, GOP party chair Keith Downey, and Congressman Tom Emmer recently joined extreme conservative David Horowitz at a small meeting. 

Mr. Horowitz railed on political correctness being the enemy of modern conservatism, suggesting Minnesota Republicans “get better at name calling.” We’ve recently been desensitized to this kind of talk thanks to Donald Trump, but the racially charged tone of the conversation serves as a reminder of why Republicans continue having trouble appealing to non-white voters.

During Q & A, Sen. Osmek spoke up, saying he was late because he’d gone into “the belly of the beast,” speaking to 150 “non-Caucasian” students at Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC). Horowitz gave him advice on how to “drag them [the non-whites] over to my side.”

Horowitz blamed Democrats for the economic situation that communities of color find themselves in, which seems pretty ridiculous considering just yesterday, GOP Speaker Kurt Daudt achieved his goal of putting a stop to a special session to help address the issue of racial economic disparities. 

If Republicans want to appeal more to non-white constituencies, they should start by supporting the issues these communities care about, instead of taking the advice of an extreme conservative white male at a Republican meeting.