GOP Sen. Was ‘Being Very Sarcastic’ With ‘Idiot Inner City Kids’ Reference

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., announces that he has filed a lawsuit to block the federal government from helping to pay for health care coverage for members of Congress and their staffs, during a news conference on Capit... Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., announces that he has filed a lawsuit to block the federal government from helping to pay for health care coverage for members of Congress and their staffs, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. Johnson says that members of Congress and their staffs are getting special treatment under the health care law. The lawsuit would would force Congress and its staffers to purchase their insurance from the federal health care exchanges without exemptions carved out by the Office of Personnel Management. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said on Thursday that he regrets using the phrase “idiot inner city kids” while discussing education during a Monday radio interview, the Washington Post reported.

The senator joined 1310 WIBA–Milwaukee on Monday to discuss school choice, where he lamented that liberal politicians send their children to private school while pushing against school choice initiatives.

“It’s unbelievable to me that liberals, that President Obama, of course he sends his children to private school, as did Al Gore, and Bill Clinton and every other celebrated liberal,” Johnson said. “They just don’t want to let those idiot inner city kids that they purport to be so supportive of…they just don’t want to give them the same opportunity their own kids have. I think it’s disgraceful.”

Johnson then told the Post on Thursday that he was being sarcastic and trying to express how liberals think of inner city youth.

“Obviously I am a huge supporter of school choice, it infuriates me that these young inner city kids are trapped in poverty,” he said. “I was being, that quote is, I’m being very sarcastic in that’s how liberals view these underprivileged kids. That is not my viewpoint in any way.”

But he told the Post that he realized how bad the phrase “idiot inner city kids” sounded during the radio interview.

“It wasn’t the best word,” he said. “Trust me I wish I would not have said that. That’s not what I mean.”

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