One day after vowing to hand out KKK hoods at Wisconsin Republicans' state convention, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Rep. Brett Hulsey backed off of that plan.
Appearing before reporters on Friday, Hulsey said he never intended to carry out the action. His idea was met with criticism from both parties.
“Sometimes even I have to pull back from the edge," Hulsey said, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. "My goal here was to get press attention, and I got it."
The AP reported that Hulsey first unveiled the plan Thursday at the Wisconsin state Capitol, saying he made the hoods with his daughter's sewing machine. The two-term state representative entered the governor's race back in late April, but is a long-shot against Mary Burke in the state's Democratic primary.
"It's a Wisconsin Republican Party hat," Hulsey said, according to the AP. "And people can interpret it any way they want."
This is not the first instance of Hulsey gaining attention for questionable antics. In March 2013, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on his decision to bring a box cutter to his office, which sparked safety fears from one of his legislative staffers. In July 2012, Hulsey pleaded no contest to a disorderly conduct charge after police accused him of flipping a 9-year-old boy off a tube at a beach, before taking pictures of the child.
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