WOODSTOCK — An Illinois legislator challenging Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner for the GOP nomination canceled a fundraising speech by a man who contends whites are intellectually superior to African-Americans.

Republican governor challenger Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton scheduled Bill Whittle to address a fundraiser Thursday in McHenry County. The Chicago Tribune reports her decision to cancel the speech came at the urging of state Senate GOP leader Bill Brady and other members of the legislature.

In 2016, Whittle expressed support of a concept there is a correlation between IQ, race and crime, and places African-Americans at a lower level than whites.

Further, according to Media Matters,

While discussing “black America” during a December 2015 appearance on Molyneux’s program, Whittle described African Americans who support the Democratic Party as literal slaves who prefer to remain in captivity. He said that that the party has “30 million” slaves and the “terms of their slavery are very simple — there’s a word for somebody who is fed, and clothed, and housed, and whose health care is taken care of by another person, and that word is slave.”

…Whittle called President Obama an “unqualified, unknown individual” who was elected “specifically and only because he is black” and said that electing Obama was “atoning for our slavery” during a January 2016 appearance on Molyneux’s show. Moments later he said, “I didn’t own any slaves, and therefore I’m not responsible for slavery. I’m not benefiting from slavery because I never owned any slaves,” and he said, “There’s nothing in this country that survived the Civil War that was the result of slavery.” Continuing to discuss the Civil War, Whittle said the “greatest tragedy in American history” is “not slavery, it’s not the Civil War, it’s what happened after,” before complaining about the philosophy of W.E.B. DuBois.

Ives’ campaign said it was unaware of Whittle’s previous remarks, adding, “Whittle was a guest of the event organizer. His comments are obviously offensive and objectionable.” Videos of Whittle supporting Ives were scrubbed from the candidate’s social media channels, Thursday.

Rauner campaign spokesman Will Allison said the controversy “just shows how unelectable Rep. Ives really is.”

–Associated Press, with Staff reports