A bull moose walks through Alaska's Denali National Park in 2009. National Park Service file photo
Gina McCarthy: Moose Meat Insult Hurt People I Care About
The EPA administrator apologized for saying Alaskan moose meat “could gag a maggot.”
A tense exchange unfolded between Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Wednesday when Sullivan asked McCarthy to apologize for insulting Alaskan moose meat.
McCarthy last year said that moose meat she received as a gift from an Alaskan tribal chief while visiting the fishing town of Dillingham, "could gag a maggot."
"A lot of people in Alaska saw that as an incredible disrespect to the people of my state," Sullivan said during a hearing in the Environment and Public Works Committee, asking McCarthy for a public apology.
McCarthy was quick to concede. "I'm happy to apologize for those remarks. I will tell you they were taken out of context, but it doesn't matter because they hurt individuals and tribes that I care about," the EPA administrator said.
The Wall Street Journal reported McCarthy's comments in a profile of the EPA administrator last year. McCarthy has previously expressed regret for the remarks.