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DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz told Wolf Blitzer on CNN that Rep. Allen West had not apologized for his outrageous behavior, which he sealed in a letter.
BLITZER: Now there's reports out there as of this moment that he called you and apologized.
SCHULTZ: That is absolutely untrue. I have not received an apology. I haven't received a phone call. I know he has my e-mail, I haven't got an apology on my e-mail nor on my fax machine in my district office or my congressional office in the Capitol or at the Democratic National Committee.
BLITZER: He's quoted in this Roll Call as having told a "Huffington Post" reporter, 'I just apologized.'
SCHULTZ: That's simply not true.
A Huff Post reporter asked West about his sexist and sophomoric attack against Rep. Schultz, and he claimed that he did apologize.
Following Rep. Allen West’s (R-FL) tirade yesterday against Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), the Tea Party Republican told the Huffington Post that he had “just apologized” to his fellow Floridian this afternoon. Wasserman Schultz told CNN this afternoon, however, that reports of West apologizing to her were “absolutely untrue.”
Allen West never did formally apologize to her. Let's face it, he would never have behaved like this to another man in Congress. Roll Call breaks it down: The Allen West Apology Mystery
Did he or didn’t he?
Shortly after Roll Call reported Wednesday afternoon that Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said that he had apologized to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) for calling her “vile, unprofessional and despicable” in an email, the phones started ringing off the hook.
Wasserman Schultz aides said there had been no apology, and West’s office adamantly denied the report and demanded a retraction.
So, what exactly happened?
West said, “I just apologized,” when asked by a Huffington Post reporter about the situation in the Speaker’s Lobby before votes Wednesday afternoon, according to a tape of the conversation.
The Huffington Post reporter repeated the question later, asking about it in the context of a group of female lawmakers preparing to hold a news conference to condemn him. The Members planned to call on the leadership of both parties to rebuke West. In response to the question, West reiterated that he had apologized before walking into the House chamber.
But West spokeswoman Angela Sachitano doubled down, saying it was Wasserman Schultz who should do the apologizing. Sachitano strenuously denied that West had apologized to Wasserman Schultz and even denied what he’d told Huffington Post...read on
His people even lie about what West said to the Huffington Post.
CNN Transcript via The Situation Room below the fold:
Wow. Have you ever been attacked publicly like that?
SCHULTZ: No, and I was surprised that he sent that to my personal e-mail, an e-mail that he didn't previously have.
But it's -- you know, it doesn't faze me. I mean, it isn't surprising he would react to the probably untold pressure he's getting from his constituents.
I mean, he and I both represent, as I pointed out in debate on the House floor, represent thousands of senior citizens who under this cut, cap and balance -- really, duck dodge and dismantle -- plan that the Republicans have proposed would face huge increases in their Medicare costs. It would end Medicare as we know it. It's the Ryan plan on steroids. And he clearly is feeling the pressure.
If he can't handle that pressure, can't handle being called out in debate on the House floor, then he probably should change his position.
And, you know, he also suggested that I focus on my own congressional district. I'll point out that I was. He's a constituent of mine, and so I was dutifully doing my job and representing my constituents and taking to task someone who I think is really taking the wrong position when it comes to the people we represent in south Florida who badly need that safety net and make sure that we're not going to dramatically increase their costs, which that cut, cap and balance plan does.
BLITZER: So you're saying he lives in your district, he doesn't live in his own district?
SCHULTZ: Yes, Congressman West is a constituent of the 20th congressional district, but represents the 22cd.
BLITZER: Now there's reports out there as of this moment that he called you and apologized.
SCHULTZ: That is absolutely untrue. I have not received an apology. I haven't received a phone call. I know he has my e-mail, I haven't got an apology on my e-mail nor on my fax machine in my district office or my congressional office in the Capitol or at the Democratic National Committee.
BLITZER: He's quoted in this roll call as having told a "Huffington Post" reporter, I just apologized.
SCHULTZ: That's simply not true. BLITZER: As of this moment, he has not called you, he has not communicated -- he has not apologized?
SCHULTZ: No, he has not.
BLITZER: If he does call you and say I'm sorry, what will you say?
SCHULTZ: Well, I would appreciate his apology, and I would hope that he would reconsider his ill-advised position on increasing benefits -- increasing costs for Medicare beneficiaries.
But I think Congressman West really needs to understand that when we're debating on the House floor, that's what we do. We engage in a back and forth. And if he can't handle that, particularly on an issue as important to our constituents as Medicare, then he probably needs to reconsider his really ill-advised position on Medicare.
