CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – A phone call from Republican headquarters in Clay County last week is raising a lot of questions and an apology from Republican leaders.
A campaign volunteer was recorded calling people and saying President Barack Obama is a Muslim who will take away Medicare.
One phone conversation was left on a answering machine after the campaign volunteer apparently did not disconnect her phone and went on to another call, not knowing she was being recorded.
UNCUT: Call from Clay County Republican headquarters
"You don't want Obama, you really don't want Obama, because he will get rid of your Medicare. You might as well say goodbye to it," the volunteer said.
What she said next is raising even more concern.
"I don't know if you've done any research on Obama or not, but he is a Muslim, he does got a socialistic view on the economy, the government, the whole nine yards," the volunteer said. "If he had his way, we would be a socialistic county."
The man who recorded the call in Polk County is a Republican who wants to remain anonymous. He traced the call back to Republican headquarters in Clay County. He gave the recording to a Tampa radio station, WMNF 88.5 FM, which aired the conversation.
"I thought it was pretty lousy," the man, in a phone interview, said of the volunteer caller's comments. "Especially the couple on there, they were an older couple and (the woman was) basically lying to them. That did not sit well with me."
Leslie Dougher, chair of the Clay County Republican Party, said the Republican Party is sorry this call occurred.
"It was her own personalized -- she was a volunteer, and they come in, they are told to stick to the script. She did not," Dougher said.
Clay County Democratic Chairman Tom Nazworth said he is not surprised by the call, but he thinks the Republican county chair should resign.
"They should monitor everything," Nazworth said. "We monitor our people when they make phone calls. They would have been asked to leave our headquarters."