A verbal slugfest erupted on
Newsmax TV's "The Steve Malzberg Show" Thursday as African-American columnist David Swerdlick sparred with conservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza, calling President Barack Obama a "boy out of the ghetto."
D’Souza — a longtime critic of Obama — tweeted about him earlier this week with the headline, "You can take the boy out of the ghetto …"
The quote accompanied a photo of Obama taking a selfie of himself in the White House, and was followed by, "Watch this vulgar man show his stuff, while America cowers in embarrassment."
The tweet prompted outrage from some who thought it was racist.
D'Souza, who issued several follow-up tweets to clarify his Obama remarks, denied there was any racist intent. And he told Steve Malzberg there would be "no apologies."
Swerdlick, an editor and columnist at the African-American news site TheRoot.com, wasn't impressed.
He told D'Souza, "On its face the tweet makes two references that could clearly be seen as trying to underscore President Obama's race."
Watch the rough-and-tumble debate in full here:
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