Keith Scott shooting: Congressman apologises for saying Charlotte protesters ‘hate white people because they are successful'

North Carolina representative Robert Pittenger said the shooting of Keith Scott was not a 'racial' issue

Congressman Pittinger said it was 'tragic' that '70 per cent of black people are having children out of wedlock' (BBC Newsnight / YouTube)

A North Carolina congressman who said that the protesters in Charlotte “hate white people” apologised a few hours later.

US representative Robert Pittenger said on BBC Newsnight said there was nothing "racial" about the killing of Keith Scott, and that despite a "welfare state", black people are having children "out of wedlock" and it is a "tragic break-down of society".

Within hours, the 68-year-old representative, whose district includes areas of Charlotte, said he regretted his remarks.

During the interview, he was asked about what was going through the minds of the people who were protesting against the police killing this week of Mr Scott.

"The grievance in their mind is the animus, the anger," he said.

"They hate white people because white people are successful and they’re not. I mean, yes, it is, it is a welfare state.

"We have spent trillions of dollars on welfare, and we’ve put people in bondage so they can’t be all that they are capable of being."

The Donald Trump supporter said that the policies of former democratic president Lyndon B Johnson have had an effect over the last 50 years, making black people "angry".

His comments were called "ignorant" and "foolish".

In a series of posts on twitter, the congressman apologised, saying his "anguish" over the situation in Charlotte had prompted him to answer the question "in a way I regret".

He said he wanted to discuss the "lack of economic mobility for African Americans".

Mr Pittenger then talked to CNN, saying he had been repeating comments from protesters that he had heard on television, but did not personally believe that black people “hate” white people.

"I was only trying to convey what they were saying and yet, it didn't come out right, and I apologise.

"I have many, many good friends in the African-American community," he said.

His remarks come shortly after Mr Trump started his outreach to African American voters.

Mr Trump's top aide, Michael Cohen, told CNN last month that there is an "African American problem" in the US.