Congressman Blake Farenthold recently lashed out at Susan Collins and other GOP senators. And on Tuesday, the female lawmaker from Maine didn’t exactly have nice things to say about him, either.
Farenthold — a Republican US representative from Texas — on Friday told a radio show host that he thought it was ‘‘absolutely repugnant’’ that the GOP-led Senate hadn’t acted on repealing the Affordable Care Act, singling out ‘‘some female senators from the Northeast.’’
‘‘If it was a guy from south Texas, I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style,’’ Farenthold said, referring to the famous 1804 duel between Burr and Alexander Hamilton, the former secretary of the Treasury.
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Collins, for her part, has been vocal in her opposition to recent Senate plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Senate bill doesn't fix ACA problems for rural Maine. Our hospitals are already struggling. 1 in 5 Mainers are on Medicaid. 3/3
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) June 26, 2017
Collins apparently heard Farenthold’s comments on the radio and discussed them with Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, at the end of a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday morning.
The exchange between Farenthold and the radio show host begins around the 27-minute mark:
However, the comments were caught on a hot mic.
‘‘Did you see the one who challenged me to a duel?’’ Collins asked Reed in the exchange.
‘‘I know,’’ Reed replied. ‘‘Trust me. Do you know why he challenged you to a duel? ’Cause you could beat the [expletive] out of him.’’
‘‘Well, he’s huge,’’ Collins said of Farenthold. ‘‘And he — I don’t mean to be unkind — but he’s so unattractive it’s unbelievable.’’
‘‘Did you see the picture of him in his pajamas next to this Playboy bunny?’’ she continues, referring to an infamous photo of the Texas legislator.
The microphone went dead after the exchange.
MALE SENATOR on FARENTHOLD: "You could beat the shit out of him."
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) July 25, 2017
SUSAN COLLINS: "He's huge ... he's so unattractive, it's unbelievable." pic.twitter.com/hyw6fKU15E
Collins later apologized for her comments.
“Neither weapons nor inappropriate words are the right way to resolve legislative disputes,” Collins said in a statement to the Globe. “I received a handwritten apology from Rep. Farenthold late this morning. I accept his apology, and I offer him mine.”
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Wire material from The Washington Post and the Associated Press was used in this report.