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Tuesday, Mar 8, 2011 7:09 PM UTC

James O’Keefe’s new target: NPR

A heavily edited undercover video shows an NPR executive branding the Tea Party crowd "seriously racist people"

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Topics: James O'Keefe, NPR, Tea Parties,

James O'Keefe's new target: NPR

Remember James O’Keefe? The conservative prankster first drew headlines for his heavily edited, hidden video attack on ACORN and for breaking the law in an attempt to embarrass Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.

O’Keefe has now orchestrated another video ambush, this time targeting National Public Radio. Two undercover O’Keefe lackeys — posing as representatives of a supposed American affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood — met with two NPR officials, senior executive Ron Schiller (who announced he’s leaving his position last week) and Betsey Liley, director of institutional giving. They brought a hidden camera.

Schiller touched on a number of issues, including Juan Williams, Egypt and liberalism in America. In one notable exchange, Schiller and Liley remark that NPR — which receives a percentage of its income from the government — would be “better off in the long run without federal funding,” a statement that runs counter to NPR’s public position. The portion of the exchange that figures to receive the most attention, however, comes when Schiller expounds on the Tea Party:

The current Republican Party is not really the Republican Party. It’s been hijacked by this group that is… not just Islamaphobic but really xenophobic. Basically they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it’s scary. They’re seriously racist people. 

More Peter Finocchiaro.

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