Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey makes Obama-al-Qaida remark on Twitter

Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey

NASHVILLE - Republican Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey's tweet Wednesday charging President Barack Obama with attempting to "ally" the U.S. with al-Qaida in Syria's civil war is generating demands by Democrats that he apologize.

Ramsey, the Senate speaker, earlier tweeted that "as the president attempts to ally w/ Al-Qaida in syria's civil war, we must always remember who attacked us on our soil 12 years ago."

Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Roy Herron condemned Ramsey's message and said Ramsey, the state Senate speaker, "should fire whoever wrote such an outrageous, dishonest, misleading, incendiary, unpatriotic and dangerous attack on our nation's president and on Republican leaders like Senators [Bob] Corker and [John] McCain and House Speaker [John] Boehner and even the military Leaders working with them."

Herron said in his statement that "many of us are unsure about how to proceed in Syria, but whoever wrote that tweet dishonors the victims of 9/11 and our military men and women who are doing all they can to stop more children and parents from being gassed and killed."

State House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, said Ramsey's "divisive rhetoric dishonors the memory of those who died on this day" and accused the lieutenant governor being either "grossly misinformed or he has decided to be a partisan, instead of a patriot. He should apologize immediately."

Ramsey spokesman Adam Kleinheider did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550.