Miami Republican Sen. Frank Artiles said the “n-word” to a couple of African-American colleagues, but he says he didn’t mean the one with “er” at the end.
The Miami Herald reports:
Over drinks after 10 p.m. at the members-only Governors Club just steps from the state Capitol, Artiles told Sens. Audrey Gibson of Jacksonville and Perry Thurston of Fort Lauderdale that Senate President Joe Negron of Stuart had risen to his powerful GOP leadership role because “six niggers” in the Republican caucus had elected him.
Artiles later told Gibson and Thurston that he’d used the word “niggas,” suggesting the slang term was not meant to be insulting, Gibson and Thurston said. It’s unclear whom Artiles was referring to, since the only black senators in the state Senate are all Democrats — and none of them backed Negron’s bid to lead the chamber.
Artiles, who is Cuban, also said “I’m from Hialeah” as if to infer that being from the predominately Hispanic city gave him a pass. Sen. Artiles also reportedly called Negron a “p*ssy” and Sen. Gibson “this f*cking *sshole” and “this b*tch.” Artiles has since apologized for his remarks via a statement saying, “In an exchange with a colleague of mine in the Senate, I unfortunately let my temper get the best of me, There is no excuse for the exchange that occurred and I have apologized to my Senate colleagues and regret the incident profusely.”
