Sen. Orrin Hatch knows how to be blunt. And, yes, that is a marijuana reference.
« I urge my colleagues to join Senator Schatz and me in our joint effort to help thousands of Americans suffering from a wide-range of diseases and disorders, » he added. « In a Washington at war with itself, I have high hopes that this bipartisan initiative can be a kumbaya moment for both parties. »
The weed references include: « high time, » « experimented, » « delving into the weeds, » « strains, » « to be blunt, » « roll out, » « joint effort » and « high hopes. »
According to Hatch’s office, the humor was on purpose.
« Sen. Hatch has a great sense of humor, » said Matt Whitlock, Hatch’s spokesman. « While this is a serious bill dealing with serious issues, particularly in Utah, he felt that the best way to ensure it received the attention required for a thorough and robust debate was with a bit of good-natured humor, similar to that of his social media platforms. »
This isn’t the first time the Utah conservative has been creative about his word choice.
In August, his colorful comment about how members of his party « shot their wad » on their efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare made headlines. As Hatch’s comment began circulating on social media, the senator shared a « valuable » lesson on Civil War jargon.
His office tweeted a link to the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of the expression, explaining that it refers to a « a plug of tow, cloth, etc., a disk of felt or cardboard, to retain the powder and shot in position in charging a gun or cartridge. »
Hatch later clarified his remarks with « helpful additional context, » sharing a tweet from Whitlock, who explained that this turn of phrase « was used quite often during the Civil War when Hatch was just a young senator. »
Hatch also engaged in a funny Twitter exchange with Sen. Ben Sasse in July. Hatch responded to a dig from Sasse about his age by writing: « The vote-a-rama we had on the Treaty of Paris was quite the hootenanny. »
