CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A group of protesters gathered Thursday morning to demand North Carolina Sen. Bob Rucho apologize for a tweet he made earlier this week.
His tweet compared Obamacare to Nazis and terrorists, and political activists have now said he has no choice but to publicly apologize.
The group from Progress North Carolina Action came to the senator's Charlotte dentist office with a petition of 9,000 signatures asking him to apologize.
Rucho has vigorously defended his Twitter remarks despite a growing chorus of outrage from the public and politicians alike -- some even from his own party.
Protesters carried signs with pictures of the twin towers, and called any analogy to of the loss of life on September 11 or to the loss of life during World War II outrageous.
Progress Action North Carolina supports President Barack Obama's health care plan but said the rhetoric of Sen. Rucho's tweet alone hurts those on both sides of the issue. When pressed on the consequences, protesters stopped short of calling for a complete resignation.
"We're not calling on him to resign, although many have said that. That's not something we're calling on. We want him to be a responsible elected official," said Pat McCoy with Progress North Carolina Action.
The group will deliver its petition to Rucho's office in Raleigh and Eyewitness News has reached out to the senator for a response.
In a phone interview, Rucho maintained he stands on what he said, and said he didn’t want to give “left-wing extremist groups” credibility by replying to their petition.
“When you stand on the truth, the truth is there, and you stand up and take it,” Rucho said.
He also said the “left-wing extremists” were mispresenting his words and lying, trying to squelch the debate on Obamacare.