House Speaker John Boehner’s spokesman Michael Steel was captured on a hot mic slamming reporters for what he characterized as their “horse[expletive]” phrasing of questions.
TalkRadioNews reported that Mr. Steel seemed frustrated by the perceived failure of members of the press to quiz Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about the CRomnibus bill with the same zeal they queried Mr. Boehner on environmental riders — and he turned his attention to CNN’s Dana Bash and ABC’s Jeff Zeleny.
A YouTube video of the scene showed him speaking to a journalist and calling the questions “horse[expletive]” and then turning to Ms. Bash — who then warned him of his hot mic.
“I’m just trying to protect you from yourself,” she said.
Reporters in the room broke out in laughter, and Mr. Steel then said, “sorry.”
Bloomberg’s Heidi Przybla tweeted: “Boehner spox says reporters challenging Boehner on EPA, other riders asking ’horse[expletive] questions,” Talk Radio News found.
Mr. Steel then told TalkRadioNews that his comments were due to caffeine and over-the-counter cold medicine.
“I think that Sen. Reid’s responsibility for the breakdown in the appropriations process is an important point, but I probably should have had a bit less coffee and DayQuil this morning,” he said.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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