Via MSNBC:
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., became the latest politician to join the “offensive monkey joke” club on Monday when he tweeted his thoughts on Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s willingness to be the first Iranian sent into space.
“So Ahmadinejad wants to be the first Iranian in space–wasn’t he just there last week?” said McCain in a tweet that also linked to a story about Iran’s claim to have launched a monkey into space last week.
The not-so-funny zinger drew criticism from McCain’s twitter followers, who called the joke “disgusting,” “despicable,” and “racist,” among other things. McCain fired back in a tweet, telling everyone to “lighten up” and learn how to “take a joke.” But even colleagues from McCain’s own party found the 76-year-old senator’s “get off my lawn” humor a little too over the top.
“Maybe you should wisen up & not make racist jokes,” said Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., on twitter.