Businessman Behind 'White Appreciation Day' Says He's Leaving Republican Party

Edgar Antillon, who's twice run for the Colorado State House and is promoting a "White Appreciation Day" at his rural Colorado BBQ joint, says he's leaving the Republican Party.

Antillon lost his latest bid for the Colorado legislature just last year, and he's still listed as an "active" Republican candidate on Colorado Secretary of State's website.

But Antillon said in a Twitter exchange yesterday that he plans to close his campaign accounts as soon as possible, and he doesn't consider himself a candidate currently.

"Never will I run as a Republican again," tweeted Antillon, who led Mitt Romney's Hispanic outreach effort in Adams County, Colorado. Antillon's pro-gun activism has supported state GOP legislative efforts.

Antillon explained his position in a subsequent email.

Antillon: "I support gay marriage. Support a Ronald Reagan style amnesty. Support legalizing marijuana.

I once thought I was a Republican. I now know I'm not. Republicans claim to be the party of freedom... they are not.

I'm not a Democrat either though."

Antillon is still promising to give white people a 10 percent discount on June 11 at his Rubbin' Buttz BBQ in Milliken.

But in a development first reported by Denver's NBC affiliate Sunday, Antillon is now saying he'll give everyone, regardless of race, a discount on his restaurant's "White Appreciation Day," which has gained national media attention.

He insists that it was never his intention to exclude non-white races from the discount, despite telling 9News' on tape that Hispanics like himself would not get the discount. He reiterated to 9News that the point of White Appreciation Day was to bring Americans together.

"We're not backtracking," he told 9News. "We're not clarifying anything. This was the intention from the beginning."

He's also said he received a bomb threat at his restaurant Friday.