CHICAGO (AP) — A spokeswoman says Illinois’ U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk has apologized after being caught on a hot mic using a word considered disparaging to women.
Kirk called Republican senator and presidential candidate Lindsey Graham a “bro with no ho.” The remarks were captured Thursday on a live microphone as a Senate panel conducted a roll call vote. The South Carolina senator is a lifelong bachelor who’s joked he could have a “rotating first lady” if elected.
Kirk, a suburbanite, added “That’s what we’d say on the South Side,” apparently referring to a heavily-minority Chicago neighborhoods.
Kirk spokeswoman Danielle Varallo says it was a joke between friends, adding Kirk’s apologized to anyone offended.
The campaign for Kirk’s potential Democratic 2016 challenger, Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, deemed it “as offensive as it is unfunny.”