Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) told a town hall audience on Wednesday that "maybe killing a couple of" senators would help Rep. Paul Ryan's budget pass.
"I supported the Paul Ryan budget and sent it over to the Senate," Sullivan said. "Now I live with some Senators, I yell at them all the time, I grabbed one of them the other day and shook him and I’d love to get them to vote for it -- boy I’d love that. You know but other than me going over there with a gun and holding it to their head and maybe killing a couple of them, I don’t think they’re going to listen unless they get beat."
Ryan's budget -- which Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich once called a "radical" step toward "right-wing social engineering" -- was met with mixed reviews.
When asked about the remarks by Talking Points Memo, Sullivan's spokesperson issued a public apology:
“The Congressman offers his sincere apologies to anyone he offended and for using a poor choice of words to make his point — which was that Senate Democrats are refusing to pass a budget or even vote on the 28 House passed jobs bills. Millions of Americans are hurting — the Congressman feels their pain, and does not want his comments to deflect attention away the serious issues our country faces today, and he certainly does not condone any form of violence as a means to fix what is broken in Washington."
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