A New FRC Theory: Obama, SPLC In Cahoot on Hate Group Labeling

The antigay Family Research Council is doubling down on its theory that President Obama is working "hand-in-glove" with the Southern Poverty Law Center to label it as a hate group.

Ken Blackwell, a former Ohio Secretary of State who now serves as a senior fellow on economic issues for FRC, took to the airwaves today to reinforce claims he made in a joint op-ed with the group's president, Tony Perkins. They allege without offering much in the way of evidence that the Obama administration works "hand-in-glove" with the SPLC. Right Wing Watch has audio from the radio program on WNDTV/Radio America.

"We think that there is more and more evidence that the Obama Justice Department and the Southern Poverty Law Center work hand-in-glove," said Blackwell. "And that's disturbing because it's investing an enormous amount of power that is subject to misuse in an organization that has a political motive in attacking those of us who are strong in our pro-life ethic and strong in our support of traditional marriage. And a Justice Department that is supposed to be neutral is, by all measure, an active participant in this clash of visions; not only this clash of visions but this mislabeling of people who are exercising their fundamental human rights and constitutionally guaranteed rights as haters and bigots."

Blackwell alluded to the overriding sentiment in an op-ed, published on FoxNews.com, that said the August shooting of a security guard at FRC's Washington, D.C. office was motivated by SPLC's labeling of FRC as a "hate group."

Although Perkins and others associated with FRC have consistently blamed the shooting on SPLC's labeling of FRC as a hate-group, SPLC stands by its classification of FRC, asserting that the group "knowingly spread[s] false and denigrating propaganda about LGBT people."