June 20, 2013

Politics

Speakeasy: Sen. McCain compares Iranian leader to a monkey

BY: ALICIA M. COHN FEBRUARY 4, 2013 | 5:10 PM | MODIFIED: FEBRUARY 4, 2013 AT 5:15 PM
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"Wasn't he just there last week?"

- Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Twitter, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's desire to hop a rocket into space.

Iran claimed last week to have successfully launched a monkey named Pioneer into space. However, McCain is not the first to question the monkey's identity -- Pioneer's feat has not been verified.

Ahmadinejad told the Iranian state press on Monday that he is ready to volunteer as the first nonsimian Iranian the country sends on a manned spaceflight, according to Reuters.

But McCain's fellow Republican Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., did not find the senator's joke very funny.

"Maybe you should wisen up & not make racist jokes," Amash tweeted at McCain, who asked his followers to "lighten up" over the joke.

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Author:

Alicia M. Cohn

Examiner Staff Writer
The Washington Examiner

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