Republican U.S. House candidate Scott Walker went on a lengthy Facebook tirade Wednesday night in which he accused Delaware’s Congressional delegation and its governor – all Democrats – of being racist.

During the hours-long rant, Walker called incumbent U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester – his general election opponent and the first black woman Delaware has elected to Congress – an “Aunt Tom.”

He also labeled U.S. Sen. Tom Carper as a “redneck,” referred to feminism as “an assault against people of color,” accused Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg of “hating Israel” and challenged former Vice President Joe Biden to a debate, calling him a “racist loser.”

Walker on Thursday morning stood by his Facebook posts.

“They are all guilty of disparate impact discrimination,” he told The News Journal. “Their policies, their actions and their words have a disproportion effect on minorities, especially black people.”

Walker said he specifically was referring to welfare programs, which he argued “infantilizes” the poor until they cannot take care of themselves.

When asked if he considered terms such as “Aunt Tom” – a twist on a slur used to describe a subservient black person – Walker said “everyone has hard-wired bigotry within them and I’m no different than anyone else.”

“I’m the worst Christian and a pathetic sinner,” he said.

Blunt Rochester called Walker’s posts “negative rhetoric” and a “distraction.”

“The people of Delaware deserve a meaningful debate about the direction our country is headed in,” she said via email. “I will continue to run my re-election bid, as I serve in Congress, with professionalism, integrity, and honesty. The people of Delaware deserve no less.”

The Delaware Democratic Party took a harsher tone.

"Scott Walker's bigoted and hateful remarks only serve to spread fear and untruths -- ultimately, taking our political conversation backward, not forward," said party Chairman Erik Raser-Schramm. "Delaware deserves public servants who will lead in a thoughtful, dignified way that prioritizes the people they represent."

Other elected officials named in Walker’s screed declined to comment Thursday.

The Delaware GOP, meanwhile, distanced itself from Walker in what is believed to be the party’s first public acknowledgment of his primary win over Lee Murphy earlier this month.

“While Scott Walker is a Republican-endorsed candidate, his comments do not reflect how the Republican Party feels,” said executive director Emily Taylor Thursday.

The state party previously declined to comment on Walker when a Facebook post he made prior to the primary was widely shared days after he became the party's nominee for U.S. House.

In that post, Walker attempted to address the nation's obesity epidemic by recording a 41-second video of an advertisement at a Forever 21 store in which he refers to a plus-size model as "very, very obese."

"This is a protest because women should not get the idea that it's OK to be unhealthy," he says off-camera. "To me, that's discrimination against women."

He posted a series of Facebook videos Wednesday morning, including a 24-second recording of the candidate inside a portable toilet at the Dover Transit Center in which he cites a poorly functioning door lock as an example of government mismanagement.

By early evening, his posts turned from policy to personal attacks.

“Delaware Congressional Delegation: Supporting racist, bigoted policies! Carper, Coons, Rochester: You are BIGOTS! What is your response? Defend yourselves, bigots! The People are not fooled,” he wrote.

That was soon followed by this post:

“Zuckerberg a dyed-in-the-wool racist. He shut me down! Hates Israel! … Carper a redneck racist from West V. Proof? Redneck policies hurting blacks across the board. Same with sorry Coons/carney. Could whip them both simultaneously with one brain tied behind my back. And, uh, Congresswoman? Not UNCLE Tom, but AUNT TOM!!!!”

Walker then gave his thoughts on feminism:

"The misamed [sic] 'feminist' movement is a racist white woman assault against people of color! Black women included! Hello, Chicago!!!"

More posts in the same vein were interrupted by this non-sequitur:

“Not talking till i get some $. Final notice!”

Walker then turned his attention to Biden:

“Please debate Biden, so I can blow your doors in, you pathetic, RACIST LOSER!!!”

Walker on Thursday told The News Journal that he would not be “retracting” anything he said in those posts. But hours later, several had been taken down.

Walker then posted a new message on Facebook:

“I apologize to our Congresswoman for the improper pejorative. I stand by my reasoning, however.”

He also predicted someone would soon try to kill him before stating that he “needs the endorsement of the NAACP.”

C. Linwood Jackson, president of the NAACP's Delaware State Conference, said he was "flabbergasted" by Walker's posts.

"I find those comments to be unfounded and ridiculous," he said. "I have never found the governor or our Congresspeople to be racist. We might not agree all the time but that doesn't make them racist."

Jackson also said there would be no endorsement from his organization.

"The NAACP does not endorse any candidate and we never have," he said.

Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.

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