Joshua Black: Republican Who Suggested Obama Be Hanged Stands By Remark

Joshua Black may think twice the next time he suggests that President Obama be hanged.

The Florida Republican and state House candidate tweeted on Monday that he believes the only solution for the failings of the president is execution.

“I’m past impeachment,” wrote Black, who himself is a black man. “It’s time to arrest and hang him high.”

While Joshua Black may not have been serious, the Secret Service didn’t see it that way. On Tuesday, the agency tasked with protecting the life of the president paid a visit to Black.

No charges have been filed against Black, but he has already lost the support of some heavy hitters in the Florida GOP. Governor Rick Scott and other Republican leaders have called for him to drop out of his district race.

“Joshua Black’s comments on President Barack Obama are outrageous,” Scott wrote on Twitter. “Floridians expect more from our leaders and he should immediately withdraw his candidacy to represent families of Pinellas County.”

Joshua Black said he still intends to run, and justified his tweet in an interview with WTSP in Florida.

“I want to see all elected officials face the standard that everyone else face. They should not be able to write a law and have us face it and then not have them face it,” Black said.

Black also equated President Obama with Benedict Arnold.

“He should be executed for treason. I think the appropriate punishment is death. They killed Benedict Arnold. (Obama) shouldn’t be allowed to kill Americans without a trial.”

In a later Facebook post, Black said his claim of “traitor” came from Obama’s allegedly authorizing the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki and al-Awlaki’s teenage son by a drone strike.

Joshua Black is not exactly a big name in the Republican Party in Florida. The 31-year-old is a street evangelist who currently works as a taxi driver, and is running in the state’s traditionally Democratic 68th District.