Hannan: Obama is “exotic” and that’s “unsettling”

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Oh dear. Apparently Daniel Hannan empathises with those in the US who believe that President Obama’s background is “unsettling”.

In stating that there may be elements of racism in the hostility directed toward Obama in recent months, the Tory MEP, infamous for badmouthing the NHS in the States and praising Enoch Powell, has now said on his blog:

“Barack Obama has an exotic background, and it would be odd if some people weren’t unsettled by it. During the campaign, he made a virtue of his unusual upbringing. He was at once from the middle of the country (Kansas) and from its remotest edge (Hawaii). He was both black and white. He was a Protestant brought up among Muslims. He seemed to have family on every continent. Like St Paul, he made a virtue of being all things to all men. On one level, the strategy worked brilliantly. But it could hardly fail to leave a chunk of people feeling that Obama wasn’t exactly a regular guy.”

Parmjit Dhanda has called Hannan’s remarks a “disgrace”.

“It’s excusing racism. He is implying if you have what he calls an ‘exotic’ background you can be treated differently. Barack Obama is as representative of what it means to be an American as anyone else.”

Quite.