Former Powell Chief of Staff: GOP 'Full of Racists'

By: Lauren Williams | Posted: October 27, 2012 at 10:38 AM

Ed Shultz and Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (MSNBC)

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, a self-identified Republican who was Gen. Colin Powell's chief of staff during his time as secretary of state, did not take too kindly to a recent accusation -- from Mitt Romney's controversial campaign co-chair John Sununu -- that Powell only endorsed Barack Obama for president because they're both black. Sununu would later backtrack, but the damage was done.

Wilkerson, who is white, didn't mince words on MSNBC'sThe Ed Show Friday night. "To say that Colin Powell would endorse President Obama because of his skin color is like saying Mother Teresa worked for profit," he said. And although he gave Sununu a bit of a pass, blaming his statement on an "unfortunate" choice of words, Wilkerson had much harsher words for the GOP as a whole.

"Let me just be candid," he said. "My party is full of racists. And the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander in chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin. And that's despicable."

Uh, tell 'em how you really feel, Colonel. Now that Wilkerson has said that which shall not be said, how long before his GOP card is snatched away?