“I can understand how I confused people with the way I worded the joke and their taking offense is very understandable. To all those who took my joke as [a] modern-day approach, I deeply apologize and seek your forgiveness. My wife constantly tells me I need new material — she understood the joke but didn’t like it anyway — so I will keep that old one in the past where it belongs. To those who applauded my comments and remembered the joke, thanks for your encouragement. To those who thought I was callously encouraging that as a prescription for today, I kindly ask your forgiveness.”

***

“In all fairness, it’s not entirely clear that Friess, himself, gets the joke. Last night, he told Last Word host Lawrence O’Donnell that the joke’s humor was simply based on the absurdity, back in his day, of using aspirin as contraception. He also told O’Donnell that he was getting a lot of “hilarious” emails from people who also didn’t get the joke.”

***

“You know, [reporters] sit there and they say nothing, while for 20 years [President Obama] sits in a church with a guy who is a racist,” Santorum says. “And somehow or another Foster Friess is now who I am? This is just crap.”

“I went at Charlie Rose this morning a little bit for bringing this stuff up. They want to talk about contraception. This is how the media wants to frame me. We have to go out there and keep pounding away.”

***

“You know I agree with many of the things that Rick Santorum says, but when I heard this I really just wanted to go kick him in the jimmy,” McSally said. “He’s totally out of touch. I mean, completely out of touch. These are the types of arguments we heard 20 to 25 years ago as to why women couldn’t be fighter pilots. It’s an insult to the men and women who are serving overseas, putting their lives on the line and focusing on the mission right now.”

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