Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, apologized to Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, after she was caught on a hot mic making derogatory comments about Farenthold at the end of a Senate hearing Tuesday.
“Neither weapons nor inappropriate words are the right way to resolve legislative debates,” Collins said in a statement Tuesday to CNN. “I received a handwritten apology from Rep. Farenthold late this morning. I accept his apology, and I offer him mine.”
In a statement to the Washington Examiner earlier Tuesday, Farenthold had no comment on Collins’ statements.
Collins issued her apology after she was heard telling Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., that Farenthold is “so unattractive it’s unbelievable” after a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Tuesday.
“Well, fat guy. He’s huge,” Collins told Reed. “He’s so … he’s so unattractive, it’s unbelievable. Did you see the picture of him in his pajamas next to this bunny, this Playbook bunny?
Collins and Reed were discussing comments Farenthold made in an interview with a Texas radio station, during which Farenthold blamed the Senate’s failure to pass a bill repealing and replacing Obamacare on “some female senators from the Northeast” and said he would’ve challenged any opposing senators to a duel had they been men from his home state of Texas.
Collins, who is from Maine, opposed a Senate proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare, as well as a separate plan to repeal Obamacare first and replace it later.
“Did you see the one who challenged me to a duel?” Collins asked Reed, referencing Farenthold.
“Trust me, you know why he challenged you to a duel? Because you could beat the shit out of him,” Reed responded.
Farenthold said in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Tuesday afternoon his comments were meant to be taken lightly.
“Like the president, I am sick and tired of the left-wing biased media trying to make something out of nothing,” Farenthold said. “This was clearly tongue in cheek. That being said, I’m extremely frustrated with Senate Republicans who are breaking their promise to the American people to repeal and replace Obamacare.”
