June 28, 2008 07:53 AM UTC

McCain: "Stop beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago"

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• by: Go Blue

Considering McCain’s history of mistreating his wife, and the context of the conversation he was having, this might have been the most inappropriate statement the republican nominee could make.

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, columnist Jon Ralston asked McCain why he didn’t choose Gov. Jim Gibbons (in the middle of a messy divorce) to chair his Nevada campaign:

McCain: I appreciate his support. As you know, the lieutenant governor is our chairman.

Q: Why snub the governor?

McCain: I didn’t mean to snub him. I’ve known the lieutenant governor for 15 years and we’ve been good friends….I didn’t intend to snub him. There are other states where the governor is not the chairman.

Q: Maybe it’s the governor’s approval rating and you are running from him like you are from the president?

McCain: (Chuckling) And I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago . . .

I’m sure that will go over well with former female Hillary supporters who are still weighing their choices.

ABC News’ Jake Tapper notes that McCain’s evasive joke was a poor choice given the context:

Gov. Gibbons last month filed for divorce from his wife Dawn citing incompatibility. It’s pretty scandalous. The Reno Gazette-Journal recently reported that one month Gibbons sent 860 text messages to a woman with whom Mrs. Gibbons suspects her husband of stepping out.

Gibbons, you may recall, started his governorship amidst accusations that he assaulted a cocktail waitress named Chrissy Mazzeo three weeks before Election Day. Mazzeo said Gibbons grabbed her in a parking garage and threatened to sexually assault her. Charges were never filed.

Not only was it completely inappropriate, it further demonstrates McCain’s inability to use clear judgement on something as simple as this.