Montel Williams threatens legal action against Pat McCrory over campaign ad

A spokesman for Montel Williams says the former talk show host is considering legal action against Gov. Pat McCrory’s campaign after a clip of Williams was included in a McCrory ad.

“The @PatMcCroryNC campaign can expect to hear from @Montel_Williams lawyers soon,” Williams spokesman Jonathan Franks tweeted Friday night. “We intend to be a very expensive headache for Lyin' Pat.”

Williams has frequently criticized McCrory for signing House Bill 2, and he has endorsed Democrat Roy Cooper in the governor’s race. But in a campaign ad touting McCrory’s support for law enforcement, Williams is shown briefly in a clip from a cable news interview.

“The rhetoric has been ratcheted up way too high,” Williams says in the clip, which was taken from Don Lemon’s CNN show. McCrory’s ad splices in the Williams comment after showing Fox News host Bill O’Reilly saying “the war on cops.”

Williams issued a strong statement Friday criticizing the ad and demanding an apology from McCrory.

“There do not exist words to describe how disgusted Mr. Williams is that Gov. McCrory, whose record of bigotry we have been fighting for months, would have the audacity to use a clip of an interview Mr. Williams gave in a bold face attempt to put a black face on what is an indisputable record of bigotry,” Franks said in a news release.

McCrory spokesman Ricky Diaz tweeted that the campaign “thought we’d highlight one area that Gov & Montel Williams agree… supporting our police officers is not about politics,” adding that “we refuse to apologize.”

This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Montel Williams threatens legal action against Pat McCrory over campaign ad."