Perhaps, (as he said in the interview) that he saw the resemblance between curious George and Obama and never meant for it to be a racist intent...
...he seems old enough to have been around to know about the racist ape references to blacks, so I don't buy that one.
And if he is an ultra conservative, why would he make t-shirts promoting an opponent candidate, unless his intent was to demean the opponent in some manner?
Sorry, his version of the story doesn't hold water...