Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said on Monday that he “simply misspoke” when he declared last week that Hurricane Katrina, which battered the Gulf Coast in 2005, was “nothing in comparison to what happened to the people in New York and New Jersey” in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.
“In my recent comments criticizing House Republicans for threatening to betray Congress’ tradition of providing aid to disaster victims in a timely fashion regardless of region, I simply misspoke,” Reid said in a statement. “I am proud to have been an advocate for disaster victims in the face of Republican foot-dragging, from Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Sandy, from fires in the west to tornadoes in the Midwest. I have worked hard with Senator Landrieu to ensure that the people of the Gulf Coast have the resources they need to fully recover, and I will continue to advocate on their behalf until the region is fully recovered.”
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) took to Twitter on earlier Monday to express his displeasure with Reid’s comments, saying the Majority Leader “has again revealed himself to be an idiot” by “insulting” Gulf Coast victims.
