Senator Sorry About 'Bro With No Ho' Joke

The latest adventure in hot mics involves Sen. Mark Kirk, who got caught joking to a colleague that fellow Republican senator Lindsey Graham is a "bro with no ho," reports the Huffington Post. "That's what we'd say on the South Side," said the Illinois lawmaker of his friend. He was referring to the focus on Graham running for president as a bachelor. “Senator Kirk was joking with his colleague and immediately apologized to anyone offended by his remark," says his press secretary. Democrats were trying to make hay, with the campaign manager for Rep. Tammy Duckworth—who hopes to take Kirk's seat in 2016—calling the joke "as offensive as it is unfunny," reports the Chicago Tribune.

In an interview with Politico, meanwhile, Graham sounds a little annoyed with all the fuss over his singlehood. "At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong about not being married," he says. "Having a marriage and a good family and children is a blessing. But I don’t think I’m a defective person by any means." He tells the website that he was close to being married when he was much younger, in the days when he was the legal guardian of his younger sister after their parents died within 15 months of each other. “It’s something I really don’t know the answer to, other than I think it’s OK." (More Mark Kirk stories.)