Georgia lawmaker who shouted anti-Arab racist slurs on TV to resign

Rep. Jason Spencer, a Republican, vowed to serve out his term despite the fallout. Now he'll step down at the end of July, spokesman Kaleb McMichen told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution late Tuesday. 

In Sunday night's broadcast of Cohen's Showtime series "Who Is America?" Cohen poses as an Israeli military expert who persuades Spencer to take part in several outlandish exercises. The lawmaker is told they're making a counterterrorism video.

Spencer repeatedly shouts a racial slur for black people after Cohen tells him the tactic is useful for drawing bystanders' attention to an unfolding attack.

He also drops his pants, then his underwear, before backing his exposed rear end toward Cohen while shouting "USA!" and "America!" Cohen told Spencer this would incite fear in homophobic militants. 

The segment also shows Spencer screaming about "sand niggers", a derogatory remark about Arabs, and speaking with a mock Asian accent while using a selfie-stick to surreptitiously insert a camera phone between the legs of a woman dressed in a burqa.

House of Representative Speaker David Ralston and others had called for his immediate resignation.

In a statement Monday, Spencer apologised for the "ridiculously ugly episode," but he initially refused to step down.

Spencer lost the Republican primary in May, but he could have remained in public office through the November election.

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