Republican Congressman Apologizes to Obama for Awkward 'Tar Baby' Comment

It's not what it sounds like. Or, is it? Colorado congressman Doug Lamborn reportedly stated on AM radio that he was reluctant to associate with the President over the debt deal because he is a "tar baby."  The comment was made during an interview with radio host David Sirota on AM 760 in Denver, where Lamborn argued that, given the President's economic policies, being associated with the President could damage a politicians image. The tar baby reference, in this instance then was perhaps not intended maliciously but was rather misused. Nonetheless the Republican lawmaker reportedly issued a written apology to the White House Tuesday for his statement.

Lamborn's controversial remark was part of this statement:

“Even if some people say, ‘Well, the Republicans should have done this or they should have done that,’ they will hold the President responsible. Now, I don’t want to even have to be associated with him. It’s like touching a tar baby and you get, you get it, you know, you get in and you are stuck and you are part of the problem now and you can’t get away. I don’t want that to happen to us, but if it does, or not, he’ll still get, properly so, the blame because his policies for four years will have failed the American people. Look at the economic numbers.”

According to CNN Lamborn’s office released a statement saying the Congressman gad sent a letter to the White House apologizing and explaining his comment:

“Lamborn was attempting to tell a radio audience last week that the President’s policies have created an economic quagmire for the nation and are responsible for the dismal economic conditions our country faces,” the statement notes, and that while the Congressman regrets the choice of words, he is “confident” the President will accept the apology. He notes he should have used the term “quagmire” instead of “tar baby,” which is a bit of a grammatical stretch, but an improvement.

Mediaite provides the audio for Lamborn’s comments on AM 760 below: