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Black voters 'deeply offended' by Maine GOP chair

Contrary to claims made by state GOP Chairman Charlie Webster, black people do in fact live in Maine.

Contrary to claims made by state GOP Chairman Charlie Webster, black people do in fact live in Maine.

Webster, who hails from one of the whitest states in the nation, this week accused "dozens and dozens" of black people of voter fraud for showing up at polling places in rural Maine where "nobody in town knows anybody that’s black."

msnbc's Melissa Harris-Perry invited a "real life black person from Maine" to her show Saturday, Shay Stewart-Bouley, who said she was "stunned" by the Republican leader's remarks.

"I was deeply, deeply offended by Webster’s comments," she said.

Webster later apologized for his comments, telling Talking Points Memo that he regrets saying the word "black."  Webster emphasized that he was not racist in his apology because, "I know black people. I play basketball every Sunday with a black guy."

Harris-Perry laughed at Webster's remarks, saying they sounded like a comedy sketch out of a Dave Chappelle skit.

"I thought really? Really? You have a black friend who you play basketball with yet you don’t think there are any black people in Maine who would actually show up to vote?" Stewart-Bouley added. "That really doesn’t make sense.”