McCain Defends Calling Constituent A Jerk: ‘Loosen Up’

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., listens to a question during a town hall, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Sun Lakes, Ariz. McCain defended his proposed immigration overhaul to an angry crowd in suburban Arizona in the lat... U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., listens to a question during a town hall, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Sun Lakes, Ariz. McCain defended his proposed immigration overhaul to an angry crowd in suburban Arizona in the latest sign that this border state will play a prominent role in the national immigration reform debate. (AP Photo/Matt York) MORE LESS
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At a town hall in Phoenix Wednesday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he doesn’t regret calling a constituent a jerk at an event a day earlier. 

The exchange occurred at a town hall Tuesday at the Sun Lakes community in Arizona, where a man pressed McCain on border security. “You said, ‘Build the dang fence.’ Where’s the fence?” the man said. McCain responded that occasionally a “jerk” like him shows up at town halls. 

At the event on Wednesday, KTVK asked McCain whether he regretted using that language. “Of course not,” McCain said. “I call people jerks all the time. They call me a jerk all the time. That’s what it’s opposed to be about. It’s supposed to be fun. Loosen up.”

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