Haley Barbour Press Secretary Dan Turner Resigns After Japan Joke

Haley Barbour Press Secretary Resigns After Japan E-Mail Joke

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's press secretary has resigned after "dark humor" remarks he made about Japan and Janet Reno in a daily e-mailed news digest became public.

Barbour is a likely candidate to run for the Republican nomination for president.

Dan Turner says he made poor decisions and does not want to reflect poorly on the governor.

The comments were parenthetical remarks about events from a website listing daily historic events.

About Otis Redding's posthumous gold record for "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," Turner wrote "(Not a big hit in Japan right now.")

About Janet Reno's confirmation as the first woman U.S. attorney general, he made a joke that talked about her gender.

Turner says the governor never saw the jokes. He told Politico's Ben Smith earlier in the day of Barbour, "His sense of humor isn't so much in the SNL vein."

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