Hot Air: Schumer Uses B-Word on Airplane
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Sen. Chuck Schumer reportedly called a flight attendant a bad name when she asked him to turn off his cell phone before takeoff.
Sen. Chuck Schumer apparently doesn't like when people tell him to stop talking.
The senator was flying from New York to Washington with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Sunday when he muttered a curse word under his breath after a flight attendant asked him to hang up his phone before take-off, according to Politico's Shenanigans blog.
An announcement was made telling passengers to turn off their cell phones, but Schumer and Gillibrand, who was reportedly sitting beside him, kept jabbering away, a House GOP aide who was seated nearby told Shenanigans.
A flight attendant then came up to the veteran New York Democrat and asked him to turn off his phone, after which point he muttered "bitch," the source said.
Schumer's camp said the senator is sorry for the remark.
"The senator made an off-the-cuff comment under his breath after the flight attendant walked away. He shouldn't have made it, he regrets it and he has apologized for it," Schumer spokesman Josh Vlasto told NBCNewYork.com.
Gillibrand defended Schumer through her office, saying the senator complied with the flight attendant's request to turn off his phone and was "polite," reported Shenanigans.
For his part, Schumer at the time said it was a rather important call.
"It's Harry Reid calling," the GOP aide quoted Schumer as saying on the plane. "I guess health care will have to wait until we land."
