Candidate says 'Obama tags' remark was joke
Rex Rammell By Scott Logan KBCI NewsBOISE, Idaho -- Rex Rammell, Republican candidate for governor of Idaho, says his comments about "Obama tags" are not a big deal, but he apologizes if people think he wants the president assassinated. MultimediaThe Twin Falls Times News reports that during during a discussion on wolves Tuesday night at a local Republican party event, an audience member shouted a question about "Obama tags." According to the newspaper, Rammell responded: "The Obama tags? We'd buy some of those." Tags are permits purchased from the state by hunters that allow the taking of an animal during a hunting season. Idaho has been selling wolf tags to allow the hunting of the predator after reintroduction efforts brought the animal back to the state. Rammell, a veterinarian and former elk rancher from Rexburg, Idaho, told Times News reporter Jared Hopkins his comment was a joke and he would never seriously talk about President Obama that way, although he doesn't support anything Obama's done as president. "I was just being sarcastic. That was just a joke," Rammell told the paper. "I would never support him being assassinated. She kind of caught me off guard, to be honest with you." But when KBCI CBS 2 talked with Rammell, he said the paper got his words wrong. "The comment didn't come from me," Rammell said. "A woman asked about Obama tags and I just joked back..." That you'd buy some, KBCI asked? "Yes," he said, then "No, that we could sell some. They misquoted me." The Times News, however, sticks by its Rammell quote. Nobody KBCI talked to found kidding about hunting tags for the president of The United States very humorous, and Rammell told CBS 2: "If people read into my comments I would want him assassinated then I apologize for that. That was not the intent of my comment." On Friday morning, Rammell issued another statement about the remark: "Anyone who understands the law, knows I was just joking, because Idaho has no jurisdiction to issue hunting tags in Washington, D.C." Most Popular |
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