Maloney Sorry, Making "No Excuse" for Dropping N-Bomb
Senate hopeful's brain lags a couple seconds behind her brain
By SCOTT ROSS
Updated 7:45 AM EST, Tue, Jul 21, 2009
Rep. Carolyn Maloney has done serious damage to her bid for Kirsten Gillibrand's Senate seat, even before it's been officially launched, with a slip of the tongue that had her uttering the ultimate no-no.
During recent interview with City Hall News, Maloney was taking issue with her future opponent's stance on English-only education.
"I got a call from someone from Puerto Rico, [who] said [Gillibrand] went to Puerto Rico and came out for English-only [education]. And he said, 'It was like saying n----- to a Puerto Rican,'" said Maloney, pronouncing the offending term in full.
Shortly after the story went live, Maloney saw fit to apologize.
"I apologize for having repeated a word I find disgusting," Maloney said in a statement . "It's no excuse, but I was so caught up in relaying the story exactly as it was told to me that, in doing so, I repeated a word that should never be repeated."
Not surprisingly, Gillibrand supporter Al Sharpton was eager to weigh in on the matter.
"No public official, even in quoting someone else, should loosely use such an offensive term and should certainly challenge someone using the term to him or her," Sharpton told the New York Daily News. "I personally don't think she's a racist, but I think it is disturbing ... Does she [regularly] allow this kind of word in conversation?"
So now Sharpton and the rest of New York will be in the position of taking sides between an N-bomber and an alleged English-only advocate.
First Published: Jul 21, 2009 6:08 AM EST
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