COLUMBIA (WACH, AP) - Almost two years after appearing on the political web show Pub Politics, Sen. Jake Knotts is in the news again for his offensive remarks.
Knotts made national headlines in June 2010 after calling the then Rep. Nikki Haley and President Obama "ragheads."
"We got a raghead in Washington. We don't need a raghead in the State House," Knotts said. The video segment of Pub Politics containing the comment was leaked online this week.
In a Facebook video post Wesley Donehue, host of Pub Politics, said he is "one thousand percent positive that (the video) did not come from me, it did not come from my team, we did not have access to the file (that was leaked)."
Donehue believes the video was recorded during the live web stream of the show, but he does not know why someone would record that episode.
"Jake Knotts was not supposed to be a guest that night, he just showed up at the bar," said Donehue. "Someone to sit on that video for two years is mind boggling."
Knotts apologized for the comment in 2010, but refused to resign.
In a statement released Tuesday evening Knotts said, "When this story first appeared two years ago, I was embarrassed. I'm embarrassed again now."
Knotts apologized to Gov. Haley and her family.
"I only hope people will realize this two year-old interview is being leaked by campaign operatives who hope to hurt me politically. But that's no excuse for my behavior. Heated political rhetoric is not the answer. I can only say again that I'm sorry," said Knotts. "This experience has made me a better public servant. I'm not going to let attacks and leaks by opponents distract me. My focus is on creating jobs and helping the people I represent build a brighter future for their families."
When the hosts of Pub Politics, Wesley Donehue and Phil Bailey, were asked about releasing the remarks in 2010 they described their decision to withhold the footage.
"This is supposed to be a positive, refreshing look at politics,” says Donehue, “and we just thought after looking back at the tape, this episode kind of flew in the face of the whole reason we started Pub Politics.”
“We just don’t want to perpetuate those types of comments,” says Bailey. “We started this show to show the lighter side of politics, and what Sen. Knotts said was counter to our goals.”
"It was a very poor attempt at satire in an interview given inside a pub. But it wasn't funny. It was offensive. And I very much regret my remarks," said Knotts in his recent statement.
You can catch the broadcast version of Pub Politics on WACH Fox.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)