A former California representative is apologizing for calling the woman who defeated him in the last election "some bimbo" after she announced her own retirement,
The Hill reports.
Former U.S. Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., who lost his re-election bid to Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod, on Tuesday
criticized her after she said she plans to leave Congress after just one term to seek office with the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.
Baca, in an interview with The Hill on Tuesday, also attacked former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel, D-N.Y., for being too involved in California politics.
Baca lost his seat to Negrete McLeod in 2012, partly because Bloomberg spent nearly $3 million attacking him on environmental and gun issues. Now, Baca is seeking the seat held by retiring Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., but the DCCC has endorsed Redlands Democratic Mayor Pete Aguilar.
"Look at what we wound up with: Some bimbo who decided not to run again," Baca told The Hill. "Here we go again now with another New Yorker trying to tell us who's going to be the representative of the 31st. It's up to the people to decide."
Baca also accused the New Yorkers of conspiring against his election attempts.
"What's the difference? They've conspired to work against me in one, they'd turn around and do the same in the other, right? Would you roll the dice and hope they wouldn't?" he said.
But later in the day, Baca called The Hill to apologize for calling Negrete McLeod a bimbo.
"I wanted to apologize for my poor choice of words. I was just upset the district lost a representative in a short period of time. To me, that's a disservice to the area. I do apologize for my poor choice of words," Baca said.
His opponents seized on Baca's statement, though. EMILY's List, which supports pro-choice female candidates, called Baca's bimbo comment another example of his inappropriate comments about women. In
2007, Baca was accused of calling another member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus a “whore.”
Baca said Tuesday that he has supported many women through the years, including Negrete McLeod when she ran for the California assembly and worked for him.
Negrete McLeod said she had "no comment on the infamous Joe Baca."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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