Benghazi gaffe ‘was a dumb thing to say’

U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Coweta County, is a member of the special Benghazi committee that was the subject of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s gaffe — the one in which McCarthy told Fox News that the committee is the reason for Democrat Hillary Clinton’s sharp drop in the polls.

The slip-up has become important in D.C., given that McCarthy is the leading candidate to replace Speaker John Boehner — and that Clinton will appear before the Benghazi committee later this month. (Editor’s note: After the blog entry, McCarthy dropped out.)

On Tuesday, in a telephone interview with WABE (90.1FM)’s “Closer Look” duo, Rose Scott and Denis O’Hayer, Westmore- These are some of the many items readers could find this past week in the Political Insider blog on AJC.com. Look there for breaking news and to gain insight about Georgia’s political scene. land sought to backfill:

“I’ve been to enough meetings with Leader McCarthy and the whole leadership team to understand that — what Kevin was trying to get across was that, without the Benghazi special committee, I don’t think we would have ever found out about the private email server and different email accounts.

“I’m not making excuses for him because it was a dumb thing to say, but when you’re on live TV and you’re arguing with Sean Hannity, you might kind of get in front of yourself. ...

“I was watching it live, and I had this kind of sick feeling. I talked to Kevin about it the next morning, and he just apologized — said: ‘That was something really dumb. I shouldn’t have said it.’ I think he — and here again, I’m not making excuses for him, it’s been a very contentious situation in Washington, with the speaker’s race. ... Live TV’s a place you don’t want to make an error, and I think you just have to be overly sensitive to that.”

As for Clinton’s Oct. 22 appearance before the House committee, Westmoreland advised her to “pack a lunch.” It’s going to be a long day.

Donald Trump snags his first Gold Dome supporter

It looks like Donald Trump has picked up his first elected official supporter in Georgia.

State Sen. Michael Williams, R-Cumming, posted his endorsement of The Donald on Facebook just ahead of the Republican front-runner’s weekend sojourn to Norcross. (Hat tip to Justin Tomczak for spotting it.)

It should be noted that Williams’ political consultant last year was Seth Weathers, who is leading Trump’s Georgia effort.

Trump, meanwhile, didn’t get nearly as warm a reception at the GOP’s annual fundraiser Monday night, which featured pollster Frank Luntz, judging by these tweets:

Ashley D. Bell @AshleyBellR

Tonight GAGOP dinner @FrankLuntz on @realDonaldTrump “He’s divisive & I’m not sure he’s a Republican” nicest words for Trump all night Jon Richards @SiteROI .@FrankLuntz says to campaign against @realDonaldTrump, get off the podium and get rid of talking points. #gapol #gagop Jon Richards @SiteROI Next up: a video of @realDonaldTrump’s insults of women. @FrankLuntz says it’s costing the GOP 10 points. #gapol #gagop

That prompted this reaction from Weathers:

SETH WEATHERS @sethweathers

I guess @GaRepublicans Party doesn’t want the 31% of GA GOP voters who support @realDonaldTrump. No wonder they’re broke #gapol #Trump2016

SETH WEATHERS @sethweathers

Cash strapped @GaRepublicans Party wasting $ on @FrankLuntz to bash @realDonaldTrump at State GOP dinner. Out of touch much? #gagop #gapol

Ouch. The Georgia GOP, we should note, reports that it raised more than $215,000 from the event — enough to help it begin to bounce back from financial troubles.

Some party insiders credit former U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, who was tapped a few weeks ago to be the party’s chief fundraiser. We’re told that the event had less than $30,000 in pledges before he signed on.