Hunter spokesman: ‘Racist pig’ comment ‘had nothing to do with racism’

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

Seth Weathers said this week that he has no regrets about how he’s handled the aftermath of Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter’s controversial social media posts.

Weathers, a longtime consultant for the commissioner, has acted as Hunter's spokesman since mid-January, when he called civil rights leader and U.S. Rep. John Lewis a "racist pig" on Facebook.

“What would I regret?” Weathers said in a lengthy interview this week.

Weathers has helped steer every move Hunter has made over the last two months or so, from the statement apologizing for his "choice of words" to his decision to start skipping out on protest-heavy public comment periods at board meetings. Weathers also has not been shy about dealing out barbs of his own, taking on everyone from Democratic officials to protesters and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

His words have, at times, been protested in their own right. But Weathers, a former director of Donald Trump’s Georgia campaign, isn’t backing down.

“[Hunter] said something dumb,” Weathers said. “It had nothing to do with racism.”

Read the full story — and more about Weathers — on myAJC.com.