Rev. William Barber II responds to NC GOPs tweet calling him a 'poverty pimp'

A tweet sent out Thursday by the North Carolina Republican Party referring to the Rev. William Barber II as a 'poverty pimp' is stirring up controversy and has been deemed by some as "racist."

The tweet reads: "Socialist Bernie Sanders is teaming up with poverty pimp William Barber to hold a rally with NC Democrats in Durham today. While @NCDemParty embraces Sanders' push to make us more like his beloved USSR, Republicans work to protect the good old timeless values of the USA."

WRAL News spoke with Barber, who responded, "I'm not going to get caught up in this distraction. The issue is, nearly 2 million people in North Carolina are making less than a living wage, which is 15 dollars an hour."

In addition, Barber said he wants to sit down with House and Senate Leadership to talk about the moral demands of living wages and voting rights.