- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Phoenix and help keep the future of New Times free.
Question: is it appropriate to call someone a "monkey"?
If that person eats bananas and swings from trees, then maybe. If you're Senator John McCain, and you're talking about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, then maybe not.
Recently, Ahmadinejad said he'd be willing to be the first Iranian to go into space. That came a few days after Iran claimed it sent a monkey to space.
Cue McCain:
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
Not everyone liked that joke, apparently. McCain followed up later with, "Re: Iran space tweet - lighten up folks, can't everyone take a joke?"
One of those people who got upset was Republican Congressman Justin Amash, who "tweeted" the following response to McCain: "Maybe you should wisen up & not make racist jokes."
If you think this is racist, and/or you think the above photo illustration of Ahmadinejad as the Easter Bunny is racist, please let us know in the comments field below.