Rep. Doug Lamborn Apologizes To President Obama For ‘Tar Baby’ Comment

House Republican Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) apologized to President Obama on Tuesday after he said being associated with Obama’s policies was like “touching a tar baby.”

The comment, which occurred last week on his Denver radio show has drawn cries of racism and has led to outrage on the internet as users take to their favorite sites to lampoon the comments. Also ever present has been a slew of racist comments that agree with the statement and it’s seemingly racial message.

Lamborn spoke on KKTV on Monday night and said he now understands that the phrase to some people is a racial epithet. Lamborn went on to say that he was trying to explain that Obama’s policies:

“Have created an economic quagmire for the nation and are responsible for the dismal economic conditions our country faces.”

A statement from the congressman’s office read:

“He regrets that he chose the phrase ‘tar baby,’ rather than the word ‘quagmire.’ The congressman is confident that the president will accept his heartfelt apology.”

In fairness to Lamborn Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a “tar baby” as:

“Something from which it is nearly impossible to extricate oneself.”

In any case he’s sorry, though we’ll probably continue hearing that term everywhere now that it’s made national headlines.

You can listen to the words of Lamborn’s original statement here: