ATLANTA, GA — Georgia lawmaker Jason Spencer is officially out of office after resigning his position on Tuesday.
The CBS46 Bulldog obtained a letter from Governor Nathan Deal sent to representative Jason Spencer accepting his resignation. This comes after Spencer resigned in a one sentence letter to Speaker of the House Kaleb McMichen. No call, no visit and no apology to the legislative body or leadership he served for nearly eight years.
It all began after Spencer made a bizarre appearance on the cable television show “Who is America?” hosted by Sacha Baron Cohen, who gained fame as the popular character ‘Borat.’
Spencer, who represents the state’s District 180, covering the cities of Woodbine, Kingsland and Waycross in south Georgia, made national and international headlines as a result of his appearance on the show, which included several embarrassing antics and comments.
Cohen convinced Spencer to scream the “N” word over and over, asked him to pretend to be a Chinese tourist and got him to bare his buttocks and chase him while screaming “I’ll touch you. I’ll make you a homosexual. Drop that gun! U.S.A! U.S.A!”
The appearance caused shock waves at the Georgia Capitol and across the state with several people demanding that Spencer resign his position.
Gov. Nathan Deal took to twitter to condemn Spencer In the tweet, Deal writes, “The actions and language used by Jason Spencer are appalling and offensive. There is no excuse for this type of behavior, ever, and I am saddened and disgusted by it.”
Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp, also issued this statement on Spencer’s appearance:
“Rep. Spencer’s words and behavior are hurtful, insensitive, and completely unacceptable. At the very least, he should issue a public apology for this shameful incident.”
Kemp also removed Spencer from his endorsement list.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle also condemned Spencer’s actions in a tweet.
Cagle wrote, “Jason Spencer is a disgrace to Georgia and should resign his elected office immediately. While I’m glad he never supported our campaign and actually actively opposed us, I think it speaks to the judgment of our voters that he was overwhelmingly defeated earlier this year.”
He refused to resign, likely hoping to cash in on lifetime benefits should he have finished out the year in office.He later announced he would step down on July 31.
CBS46 attempted to reach Spencer but he hasn’t answered his phone in weeks.
Sources tell CBS46 News that his benefits ended Tuesday and he didn’t get a sweet deal for leaving early.