Sen. John McCain found himself in some hot water Monday morning after tweeting a joke implying that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a space monkey.
"So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space - wasn't he just there last week?" tweeted McCain in reference to two recent stories: Iran's claims that it shot a monkey into space
and Ahmadinejad's desire to be the first person Iran sends to space.
So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space - wasn't he just there last week? "Iran launches monkey into space" news.yahoo.com/iran-launches-…— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 4, 2013
The joke was seen by some to be in poor taste:
@senjohnmccain is racism funny? :P Sounds like #Berlusconi inspired you, senator... #badjokes— Manolo Luppichini (@manolo_loop) February 4, 2013
@hocinedim @senjohnmccain That is absolutely disgusting. Criticism of Ahmadinejad fine. Racist slurs are not.— Rachel Moss (@menysnoweballes) February 4, 2013
@senjohnmccain Wow, way to elevate political discourse.— Gordie Shunkle (@heyitsurban) February 4, 2013
@senjohnmccain what the hell is wrong with you— naxuu (@naxuu) February 4, 2013
Others didn't mind it one bit:
@senjohnmccain Good joke, senator.— Lev Sharansky (@LevSharansky) February 4, 2013
@hocinedim @senjohnmccain I think he was saying Imadinnerjacket is stupid.. not racist (I can call white people monkeys all day)— S K (@nolesfan2011) February 4, 2013
Some pointed out the joke was apparently hijacked from comedian and television host Jimmy Kimmel:
@alexjamesfitz @senjohnmccain Pretty sure this was a @jimmykimmel joke last week.— Kevin Cobb (@ohmykevin) February 4, 2013
People realize that @senjohnmccain's Iran monkey joke was a rip off of Jimmy Kimmel, right?— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) February 4, 2013
McCain later implored people to "lighten up."
Re: Iran space tweet - lighten up folks, can't everyone take a joke?— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 4, 2013
Ahmadinejad wouldn't be the first Iranian to space -- that honor belongs to Anousheh Ansari, who paid $20 million for a Russian Soyuz trip to the International Space Station in 2006.
Should McCain apologize for the joke, or is it okay by you? Share your thoughts in the comments.