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Dem Rep. Cedric Richmond Apologizes for Conway Joke

“I understand the way my remarks have been received by many.”

Rep. Cedric Richmond apologized late Sunday night to Kellyanne Conway, the White House counselor, for a crude joke he made about her at a dinner in Washington, D.C. last week. Speaking at the Washington Press Club Foundation dinner, the Louisiana Democrat said Conway “looked kind of familiar in that position there” in reference to a photo of her kneeling awkwardly on an Oval Office couch. “After a discussion with people I know and trust, I understand the way my remarks have been received by many,” Richmond said in a statement. “I have consistently been a champion for women and women’s issues, and because of that, the last thing I would want to ever do is utter words that would hurt or demean them. I apologize to Kellyanne Conway and everyone who has found my comments offensive.” RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel called the joke “disgusting,” while CNN’s Jake Tapper, in pressing House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi about it, said it was “sexist.” Pelosi ultimately declined to condemn the remark, and appeared to excuse it by saying “everybody was making crude comments” at the dinner.