U.S. Senator and past presidential candidate John McCain has come under fire for a remark he made on the Senate floor Wednesday while debating a bill that would allow the military to detain Americans indefinitely:
"Last I checked, Long Island was part — albeit sometimes regrettably — part of the United States of America," McCain said, pointing to an old case of German soldiers who were captured on Long Island as proof that the Supreme Court has addressed the detention issue, Huffington Post reports.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., quickly pounced over Twitter: "All of America saw how heroic Long Islanders were on 9/11. #LongIsland deserves an apology."
McCain took to the Senate floor again to respond. "In an exchange here on the floor ... I mentioned the wonderful long people — wonderful Long Island, I made a joke," he said. "I'm sorry there's at least one of my colleagues that can't take a joke, and so I apologize if I offended him and hope that someday he will have a sense of humor."
Do you think that McCain's comment was inappropriate, or a harmless joke? Was Schumer right to take exception? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.
