Georgia GOP operative implies Valerie Jarrett isn't black

March 15, 2017, Cumming: Seth Weathers, the political consultant who represents embattled Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter, poses for a portrait at his WEATHERSCORP business office on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, in Cumming.   Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

March 15, 2017, Cumming: Seth Weathers, the political consultant who represents embattled Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter, poses for a portrait at his WEATHERSCORP business office on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, in Cumming. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Roseanne Barr's show was canceled shortly after she fired off a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett. A Georgia Republican operative who was briefly Donald Trump's state director followed up with another incendiary post about the ex-Obama aide.

Seth Weathers, who was the campaign manager to a failed Republican candidate for governor, tweeted a picture of Jarrett with the caption:

"FYI, this is the 'African-American' that @therealroseanne offended. Questions?"

He was bombarded with criticism for his tweet, including from Republican elected officials who cast him as a fringe operative. One of the most cutting responses came from state Rep. John Pezold, a Columbus Republican, who pointed to his candidate's last-place finish in last week's primary.

“Hey but good luck finding the next schmuck who’s willing to pay you to run their losing campaign,” he wrote on Twitter. “I’m more than 4.89% certain you’ll be perfect for each other.”

Asked what he meant by his use of quotation marks, Weathers said he doesn’t “believe in hyphenated Americans. We’re all Americans. Using quotation marks was a reflection of that.”

Weathers has a tangled track record in Georgia. He was head of Trump's state campaign for a short stint, and is an adviser for a Gwinnett County commissioner who called U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights hero, a "racist pig."

He most recently managed the campaign of state Sen. Michael Williams, a candidate for governor who embarked on a series of publicity stunts culminating in a "deportation bus tour" that attracted demonstrators but few supporters. Williams finished with less than 5 percent of GOP support.

Barr has since apologized for her tweet, which said Jarrett was a combination of the Muslim Brotherhood and "Planet of the Apes." She also said she didn't know Jarrett was black.