A Republican congressman who praised a University of Mississippi student for making monkey noises at a Black woman during a Gaza solidarity protest has finally changed his tune on the matter.
Shocking video footage captured a white student, who was among a group of counter-protesters at the demonstration at Ole Miss , jumping up and down and making ape noises toward the Black protester .
The woman livestreamed the incident on her phone and it was shared online.
While the video prompted widespread outrage, Georgia Republican Mike Collins sided with the white counterprotester using the racist trope.
“Ole Miss taking care of business,” he commented on the now-viral clip in a post on X on May 3.
After facing backlash, Mr Collins walked back his statement, writing on X on Monday that if the counter-protester “is found to have treated another human being improperly because of their race, they should be punished appropriately, and will hopefully seek forgiveness”.
He continued: “Frankly, I did not believe that to be the focal point of the video shared at the time, but I recognize that there certainly seems to be some potentially inappropriate behavior that none of us should seek to glorify.”