Republican Study Committee Chairman (RSC) Chairman Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) is calling for the resignation of White House counselor John Podesta for comparing the House Republicans to the Jonestown cult. Podesta was named to the post just one week earlier.
The Jonestown Massacre resulted in the deaths of more than 900 people who drank poisoned Kool-Aid in 1978 at the direction of cult leader Jim Jones in a South American Jungle.
Podesta told Politico that "[White House officials] need to focus on executive action given that they are facing a second term against a cult worthy of Jonestown in charge of one of the houses of Congress."
In response, Scalise called for the president to dismiss Podesta immediately. In a press release, the Chairman of the RSC also called the comment "disgraceful":
"It's disgraceful and telling that President Obama's new Counselor is not only comparing the Republican Party to a cult that murdered those who disagreed with them, but is also using that comparison as an argument in support of shredding the Constitution and governing like a third-world dictator."
"The American people elected a divided government in Washington, and the Obama Administration would do well to respect that fact instead of undermining the will of the American people at every turn. President Obama ran to change the tone in Washington, and it's time for him to live up to that promise by relieving Mr. Podesta of his official duties immediately," Scalise said.
Podesta has since apologized for his remark via Twitter.