According to Hotline On Call, Senator George Allen's campaign is peddling a new excuse of his offensive "macaca" gaffe -- it was a combination of "mohawk" and "caca" made up by his campaign staffers:
What does Macaca really mean? Three Virginia Republicans confirmed to the Hotline that several Allen campaign aides and advisers are telling allies that the word was a made-up, off-the-cuff neologism that these aides occasionally used to refer to tracker S.R. Sidarth well before last Saturday's videotaped encounter.
According to two Republicans who heard the word used, "macaca" was a mash-up of "Mohawk," referring to Sidarth's distinctive hair, and "caca," Spanish slang for excrement, or "shit."
Said one Republican close to the campaign: "In other words, he was a shit-head, an annoyance." Allen, according to Republicans, heard members of his traveling entourage and Virginia Republicans use the phrase and picked it up. It was the first word that came to his mind when he spied Sidarth at the weekend's event, according to Republicans who have been briefed on Allen's version of the event.
Let's recall, however, the AP report noting that Allen claimed he made the word up himself:
On Monday, Allen spokesman Dick Wadhams said the name "Macaca" was a variation of "Mohawk," the nickname Allen campaign staffers gave Sidarth for his partially cropped haircut. Allen, however, said Tuesday that he made up the name himself.
Here's the statement Allen gave to CNN in which he said he "made up a nickname" for Sidarth:
I also made up a nickname for the cameraman, which was in no way intended to be racially derogatory. Any insinuations to the contrary are completely false.
Wonkette is right to call this the "Shittiest. Explanation. Ever."
Update 8/17 10:17 AM: The Allen explanation quoted by ABC News is completely incoherent:
"Some of our staff folks was calling him 'mohawk' and at any rate I didn't know what him name was, I didn't know what 'macaca' means," Allen said.
This doesn't seem to square with the "mohawk" plus "caca" story. Also, is Allen really that inarticulate?
Update 8/17 10:31 AM: Here's yet another one, this time from the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Allen said, "For folks to think I would know what sorts of genus of monkeys are in eastern Asia, ascribe a lot more intelligence to me than I actually have."
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