ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

Rep. Noel Campbell, who was at the luncheon a week ago where Stringer first made his comments, said he doesn’t want to get into the merits of what his colleague said about immigration being an “existential threat� to the United States nor his remarks about the problems of assimilating so many new foreigners.

Campbell did acknowledge that Stringer’s comments were, at the very least, “inartful.�

But he said it would be wrong to paint Stringer as a racist. And he lashed out at others who he believes rushed to “vilify� him and seek his political scalp.

Of particular note was state GOP Chairman Jonathan Lines calling on Stringer to immediately resign. That, in turn, resulted in other Republicans like Gov. Doug Ducey and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Chamber of Commerce President Glenn Hamer following suit and issuing similar statements.

Campbell called it “deplorable� to use the comments to effectively declare Stringer a racist.

“I heard the entirety of David’s remarks,� he said, as did those at the forum. “His concerns about the negative impacts of legal and illegal immigration due to the inability to assimilate into our American culture were applauded by those present and not perceived as racist.�

That mirrors Stringer’s explanation last week to Capitol Media Services about the message he was trying to get across. He said his remarks were meant to be a warning of sorts to his audience which was largely, if not exclusively Anglo, that the country they know is changing.

“I’m telling them, ‘You need to be prepared for this,�’ he said.

But for those not present at last week’s event, Campbell said, the reaction has been different.

“This is a firestorm up here,� he told Capitol Media Services.

Stringer’s recorded comments were not limited to the threat of immigration to the national identity. He also said that integration of schools could prove impossible given that a majority of children in public schools are minorities, meaning there “aren’t enough white kids to go around.�

But the reaction to Stringer was not based entirely on the comments made at the Prescott luncheon.

In a separate exclusive interview with Capitol Media Services, Stringer said while America has a history of being “a melting pot,� that has worked “for people of European descent� who “don’t have any accents� and are “indistinguishable,� something not true of Hispanics — or for that matter, Asians or African Americans.

And he said migrants from south of the border in particular don’t fully assimilate into the U.S. because “their connections with their country are stronger� than those who came here from another continent.