Ralph Abraham: John Bel Edwards a 'Sicko' for Pushing 'The Hunt' Filming

Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-LA) slammed Louisiana Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards for pushing film tax credits that led to Universal Pictures filming the controversial film The Hunt in Louisiana, which reportedly featured liberal elites hunting and killing “deplorables” for sport.

Breitbart News reported that Gov. Edwards pitched Universal Pictures, using film tax credits, to film movies in Louisiana. The studio chose New Orleans, Louisiana, to film the controversial motion picture in the state.

Universal Pictures canceled the film’s release Saturday in the wake of the mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, as well as President Donald Trump’s condemnation of the film and “liberal Hollywood” as racist and violent. In a statement over the weekend, Universal Pictures claimed that the film amounts to a “satirical social thriller.”

Edwards’ use of film tax credits to push for the controversial movie has already become a political issue during his gubernatorial campaign. GOP gubernatorial frontrunner Rep. Abraham has slammed Edwards for helping the movie get filmed in New Orleans, calling the governor a “sicko.”

“Hollywood elitists making movies in our state about liberals hunting President Donald J. Trump supporters for sport is Governor John Bel Edwards’ idea of economic development,” Abraham said in a statement Tuesday. “What a sicko.”

Edwards’ pitching of film tax credits that led to the filming of The Hunt has not been the only recent instance in which the Louisiana Democrat governor has inflamed controversy.

Gov. Edwards recently condemned President Trump’s attacks against the “Squad,” which includes progressive and diverse women Democrats such as Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), comparing it to statements made during the civil rights era.

“The president has said he didn’t intend for it to be a racist statement,” Edwards said during a radio interview in July. “For the people who were targeted ,you can compare that statement with statements that were made during the civil rights movement.”

In a recent interview with Breitbart News Sunday, Rep. Abraham said that Edwards has sided with the “Omars” and Ocasio-Cortezes of the world. Abraham charged:

What he basically said in his tweet, was if our president stands up to people who consistently bash America and use anti-semitic language that mean’s he’s a racist. Well, that’s just wrong. It’s just insane. We’re going to call him about who he is, siding with the Omars and the AOCs and the Tlaibs of the world. And he can’t defend that.

After The Hunt movie engendered controversy, Trump slammed Hollywood for stoking violent political rhetoric.

President Trump slammed “Liberal Hollywood” as the “true racists” and decried The Hunt for attempting to “inflame and cause chaos.”

“Liberal Hollywood is Racist at the highest level, and with great Anger and Hate! They like to call themselves “Elite,” but they are not Elite. In fact, it is often the people that they so strongly oppose that are actually the Elite,” Trump said. He added, “The movie coming out is made in order to inflame and cause chaos. They create their own violence, and then try to blame others. They are the true Racists, and are very bad for our Country”: