BROWN SORRY FOR GALA FLAP
Off-color remarks deemed inappropriate
Former Bay State U.S. Sen. and current U.S. Ambassador Scott Brown said he will tread a bit more lightly after what he characterized as a cultural mishap led to a U.S. inquiry about his conduct at a Peace Corps event this summer in Samoa.
Brown told a New Zealand website, Stuff, that attendees at the event complained about remarks he made to a female server and to guests at a receiving line.
“We saw these kids prior to and they were all dirty and kind of grungy,” Brown said in on-camera remarks with his wife, former TV newscaster Gail Huff, seated beside him. “We walked in and everyone was dressed to the nines. They all looked great, Gail looked great, you know I was dressed up and Gail and I both walked in and said ‘you guys are beautiful, you look really handsome sir, you guys are great.’
“And apparently somebody took offense to that,” Brown said. “Fine, I did say it. Gail and I did say it, absolutely.”
Brown also caught flak, he said, for telling a female server, “‘you could make hundreds of dollars in the services industry. You know, waitress, bartender, sales, you are doing a great job,’ and somebody took offense to that as well.”
The Republican, an early backer of President Trump during the campaign, said “rumors and innuendo” about the inquiry prompted him to speak out about the July event, a 50th anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps. He said he appreciated tips on the differences between American and Samoan culture.
“I was told that, ‘listen you’re not Scott Brown from Rye, New Hampshire any more’,” he said, “‘You’re an ambassador and you have to be culturally aware of different cultures, and different sensitivities’ and I’m always welcoming that kind of advice.”
Peace Corps volunteers who attended the event told the Herald they were not allowed to comment and the Peace Corps press office referred questions to the State Department. Brown suggested the different politics of many in the room may have contributed to the flap, but said he will be more careful with what he says going forward.
“Politics is a blood sport back home, at this event there were a lot of people who didn’t like the president, sadly, it’s politics, it is what it is,” Brown said. “Will I say it again? Probably not.”
“The most important takeaway for both of us,” Huff added, “is we are going to be very careful about what we say and how it is perceived.”