Bobby Jindal jokes: ‘You mean I’m not white?’

“You mean I’m not white?” That was Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s joking response to a white-washed portrait of himself that went viral on Twitter last week, depicting the Indian-American Republican with pale skin.

“I’m shocked at this revelation,” Jindal told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Monday. “The left is obsessed with race.”

A liberal blogger in Louisiana last week tweeted what he said was the “official portrait” of Jindal hanging at the state capital in Baton Rouge. That photo was widely circulated on Twitter.

This is Bobby Jindal's official portrait. Photo credit: Robin May of @theInd pic.twitter.com/QBzSsMOoYZ

— Lamar White, Jr (@CenLamar) February 3, 2015

Jindal’s chief of staff, Kyle Plotkin, tweeted a picture of the governor’s real official portrait, saying the other was loaned by a constitutent. He also thanked the blogger, Lamar White Jr. , for his “race-baiting tweet.”

Hey @CenLamar-that's not the official portrait. Constituent loaned it.This 1's official. Thx 4 ur race-baiting tweet pic.twitter.com/wx2SBY3ZBQ

— Kyle Plotkin (@kjplotkin) February 4, 2015

Bobby Jindal, who is considering running for president, said he believes the flap over the portrait is “silly” and highlights what he believes is a liberal obsession.

“I think the left is obsessed with race,” said Jindal, whose parents are from India. “The dumbest thing we can do is try to divide people by the color of their skin. … The left is devoid of ideas and this is, unfortunately, what they’ve resorted to — name calling, attacking, dividing people by the color of their skin. This is nonsense. We’re all Americans.”

Bobby Jindal said he doesn’t recall meeting the artist who did the controversial portrait.

The governor was in Washington to discuss Common Core educational standards, which he wants to see repealed. The issue could become a point of contention in the GOP presidential primary, since Jeb Bush is a strong supporter.

Agencies/Canadajournal