United States Senator John McCain (R-AZ) Monday made a joke comparing Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a monkey, something one Republican congressman charged was โracist.โ
โSo Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space – wasn’t he just there last week?โ McCain said in a tweet that also linked to a story about Iran launching a monkey into space.
Some didnโt take so kindly to the not-so-diplomatic quip, prompting McCain, 76, to respond: โRe: Iran space tweet – lighten up folks, can’t everyone take a joke?โ
Seeing that, Michigan congressman Rep. Justin Amash, 32, shot back.
โMaybe you should wisen up & not make racist jokes,โ Amashtweeted.
Not everyone on the right agreed with Amash. Conservative John Podhoretz, for example, Tweeted this: “How dare McCain say something demeaning & disparaging abt the foremost anti-Semite on the planet.” And this: “So…it’s defend-the-Jew-hater-from-the-war-hero day.”
Itโs not the first time McCainโs made a joke about Iran that landed him in some hot water. During his run for president in 2007, McCain sang about bombing the country.
Asked by a GOP primary voter when the U.S. would send an โair-mail message to Tehran,โ McCain said, โThat old Beach Boysโ song, โBomb Iran?โ Bomb, bomb, bombโ, anyway.โ
McCainโs response then as now? Itโs just a joke — “get a life.โ
โWhen veterans are together, veterans joke,โ McCain said at the time. โAnd I was with veterans and we were joking. And if somebody canโt understand that, my answer is, โPlease, get a life.โโ
NBC
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