A joke made by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been criticized as “racist” by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.).
McCain tweeted about Ahmadinejad’s offer to be the first Iranian sent into space, linking it to last week’s report that the country successfully put a monkey on a rocket.
So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space – wasn’t he just there last week? “Iran launches monkey into space” news.yahoo.com/iran-launches-…
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 4, 2013
The crack earned McCain some blowback on Twitter. When he protested, Rep. Amash responded:
Maybe you should wisen up & not make racist jokes. “@senjohnmccain: Re: Iran space tweet – lighten up folks, can’t everyone take a joke?”
— Justin Amash (@repjustinamash) February 4, 2013
Coming from these two politicians, the intraparty dispute is not too surprising. McCain is known for speaking his mind on Twitter — he has used the medium to take shots at Russian President Vladimir Putin. And Amash, who is of Syrian and Palestinian descent, is outside the GOP establishment. The libertarian-leaning House member backed Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) in last year’s presidential election and voted against House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) in last month’s leadership election.
