A Democratic congressman with a history of making controversial remarks has asked the Washington, D.C., Metrorail to remove a controversial advertisement he claims is "disrespectful" to President Obama, the Hill reports.
The ad, which appears in a Virginia metro station, touts a film that is critical of the president’s health care law and includes the phrase "Go to hell, Barack."
Washington, D.C.'s Metrorail should remove an advertisement in one of its subway stations that criticizes President Obama, a Democratic congressman from northern Virginia argued Wednesday.
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) said in a letter to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager Richard Sales that the ad "does not belong" in the capital region's transportation system because it is "deeply disrespectful to the President of the United States."
"I accept that WMATA should display ads, including those of a political nature, in the Metro system in order to secure the revenue they provide," Moran said. But he added that "minimum standards of decency must be maintained through a vetting process" of advertisements on the D.C. public transportation system.
Moran is no stranger to controversy. In 2003, he accused the Jewish community of exerting untoward power and influence in the country, and of leading the United States to war with Iraq.
"If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this," he said at an anti-war rally in Virginia. "The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going, and I think they should."
His comments were widely condemned by Jewish groups and many of Moran’s Democratic colleagues.
More recently, in November 2009, Moran compared Republicans to the Taliban during an interview with a local radio station.
"I mean, if the Republicans were running in Afghanistan, they'd be running on the Taliban ticket as far as I can see," he said.