
TOPEKA — A conservative Kansas legislator says he would give money to North Korea before he’d support Kansas Public Radio.
The Lawrence Journal-World reported that Republican Rep. J.R. Claeys of Salina expressed disdain for public radio Wednesday in a tweet responding to a fundraising tweet by KPR Statehouse reporter Stephen Koranda.
Claeys tweeted that he’d sooner give to “DPRK News” because its propaganda is “under duress.” DRPK is the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea.
Asked about the tweet, Claeys questioned in a message why anyone would be surprised that a Republican would balk at funding what he called a “democratic radio station.”
As for North Korea, Claeys retweeted a message suggesting that the U.S. has no reason not to launch a nuclear strike on that nation.
Claeys was a 2010 candidate for Kansas Secretary of State.