As the fight over the stimulus dragged on, Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) leveled a slur at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) by calling her “retarded” and then made up a really flimsy excuse after getting called out for it.
Pelosi and the Democrats successfully forced Republicans to agree on additional language in the Senate version of the stimulus bill that barred any bailout money from going to President Donald Trump, his family, and businesses, provisions that Trump is apparently poised to ignore. This was after Republicans rejected the House version of the stimulus and accused Democrats of adding provisions unrelated to the coronavirus such as abortion funding, which has been debunked.
She would later deny adding unrelated policies to the bill, but rather than act like an adult, Cramer responded to Pelosi by calling her “retarded” on Twitter.
“She is retarded,” he wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted.
Of course, the Internet is forever, and outrage ensued forcing Cramer to explain himself. He did so, but pathetically.
I just got off the phone with Sen. @kevincramer who said it was a typo and he meant to type “ridiculous” instead of “retarded.” #ndpol pic.twitter.com/MK0pv79DL1
— Jeremy Turley (@jeremyjturley) March 25, 2020
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Cramer blames his “fat fingers” for the now-deleted tweet. He told me he would not use that word, which is “offensive because of its historical use toward people with disabilities.”
— Jeremy Turley (@jeremyjturley) March 25, 2020
The problem is that the only way he could have typed that word is if he did it on purpose, as many Twitter users pointed out while tearing his excuse apart.
Predictive coding uses history to predict what you intend to type. So the fact that his phone would do this (assuming it did) suggests that he uses “retarded” with some frequency. Techies, feel free to tell me if I’m wrong. https://t.co/Er1xRoRSTU
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 25, 2020
Does not check out pic.twitter.com/ubi33mkonD
— Harry (@DocEgonSpengler) March 25, 2020
.@SenKevinCramer did indeed claim fat fingers and auto-correct were to blame for using a slur against Rep. Nancy Pelosi. When it comes to lies told by a Christian, this ranks up there. https://t.co/RKq7UAGKek @inforum
— Mike McFeely (@McFeely_Inforum) March 25, 2020
The rest of us are dealing with a global pandemic. Meanwhile Sen. Kevin Cramer is blaming auto-correct for his hateful language. https://t.co/BS7SUjqVI1
— ND Dem-NPL (@nddemnpl) March 25, 2020
NO SITTING US SENATOR SHOULD USE THE R-WORD
EVER.
And, when that disgraceful person makes that choice, they should own up to it + apologize.@kevincramer, #Ableism isn’t pretty…meet my son who you just denigrated.
He deals with #Bigotry every day because of people like YOU. https://t.co/66no7H6PuG pic.twitter.com/POSOgJI7EJ
— Beth Foraker (@inclusionchick) March 25, 2020
Are his fingers fatter than his entire phone? pic.twitter.com/e55VwSaXjx
— Chris Dasinger (@ChrisDasinger) March 25, 2020
kevin cramer really called pelosi ret*rded and then said “sorry fat fingers, I was trying to type ridiculous.”
bitch how fat???? they have one letter in remotely the same place, you might as well have said you were typing she’s rhinoceros pic.twitter.com/gwiSYuRZSa
— Daniel (@danielkearns99) March 25, 2020
From ND Democratic Chair @KylieOversen on Sen. Kevin Cramer’s claim the use of the word was an a result of “fat-fingers”: “Either he used it intentionally or it is a word the senator uses often enough that his phone has it saved.”
— April Baumgarten (@aprilbaumsaway) March 25, 2020
Cramer would apologize but continued sticking to his excuse.
Update to our previous story: Sen. Cramer has apologized for the incident and maintains his previous explanation that his “fat fingers” combined with the auto-correct function on his phone’s keyboard caused the slur to appear from his account. https://t.co/TygBmwgWgF
— Jeremy Turley (@jeremyjturley) March 25, 2020
Now is not the time for hurling insults. Lawmakers should be working together to help the American people at this difficult time. Had Pelosi used the word to attack Cramer, Republicans would have crucified her. His apology is not enough and he should be censured or expelled from the Senate.
Featured image via screen capture
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