Democratic Senate candidate Mark Kelly of Arizona apologized for a joke he made two years ago while discussing his astronaut brother’s return to earth.
Kelly, a former astronaut whose twin brother, Scott, spent a year in space, said he “deeply regrets” comparing his brother to a monkey named Rodrigo after being asked about some of the physiological changes that appeared between him and his brother after Scott spent one year in space.
“I think the word hasn’t gotten out how bad it is for him. You know, it’s gotten so bad, that we recently had to release him back into the wild,” Kelly told a crowd. “He’s like halfway between an orangutan and a howler monkey. We’ve even changed his name to Rodrigo. He lives in the woods. He lives in Eagle Rock Reservation.”
Moses Sanchez, a Republican businessman who ran to be mayor of Phoenix in 2018, found the video and posted it online. Sanchez condemned Kelly for the joke and claimed that the remark was made to an all-white crowd, which is not clear from the video.
“Shameful video of Mark Kelly making a racist joke to an all-white crowd. He must think people named Rodrigo look like monkeys. Time to move past this type of racism & time for the media to scrutinize Mark Kelly more thoroughly like they would a Republican,” Sanchez said in a tweet posted on Thursday.
Shameful video of Mark Kelly making a racist joke to an all-white crowd. He must think people named Rodrigo look like monkeys. Time to move past this type of racism & time for the media to scrutinize Mark Kelly more thoroughly like they would a Republican https://t.co/uqprgs7CBc
— Moses Sanchez (@SanchezMoses) September 10, 2020
In response to the controversy, Kelly told the Arizona Republic that he regrets the joke.
“My brother’s year in space was really hard on him, and we tried to bring some light to his difficult ordeal, but this comment does not do that, and I apologize and deeply regret it,” Kelly said.
Kelly is in a tight Senate race against Republican incumbent Sen. Martha McSally. McSally has fallen behind Kelly in several polls throughout the campaign.
Kelly was criticized by Republicans earlier this week after he waited several days to condemn death threats that were made against Republican Rep. Paul Gosar by an apparent supporter of Kelly’s campaign. Kelly’s wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, nearly died in an assassination attempt in 2011, a point Kelly referenced in his condemnation.
