Phil Hardy, Rep. Raul Labrador’s spokesman since his upset congressional win in 2010, has been fired for mistakenly tweeting in the name of his boss about his admiration for two actresses pole dancing in a Super Bowl ad.
The tweet, “Me likey Broke Girls,” was deleted after 14 seconds but is archived on a website that collects deleted tweets from politicians.
The Idaho Republican’s office apologized Monday for the tweet, which was Hardy’s take on a CBS promotional spot featuring Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs, the stars of “2 Broke Girls,” dancing in revealing clothing. The pair were depicted on the show’s set — a Brooklyn diner — gyrating to a Def Leppard pole-dancing tune “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”
Hardy worked in the music industry, including a stint in London, specializing in heavy metal bands, before coming to Idaho. His first job in politics was as a spokesman for the Idaho Senate GOP Caucus.
Labrador made the decision to fire Hardy, said the Idaho Republican’s district director, Jake Ball.
Ball said Labrador fired Hardy late Monday, after news of the embarrassing tweet.
“That’s Raul’s call,” Ball said of the firing. “It was the boss” who told Hardy Monday afternoon.
The Meridian-based Hardy’s official title was “coalitions director,” but he functioned as Labrador’s official spokesman and press agent, a job he also held in the 2010 campaign.
When I asked Ball to explain why the tweet was a firing offense, Ball said he couldn’t answer on Labrador’s behalf. “Let me see if the boss would like to answer these questions on his own,” Ball said Tuesday afternoon. “I did not make the decision.”
My attempts to reach Hardy on Tuesday afternoon were unsuccessful.
The other two possible opinions Mr. Hardy might have expressed would be, “Me no likey Broke Girls”, or “Me no care about Broke Girls”. I wonder what Raul would have made of either of those?
Raul Labrador should be fired. Not for this but for not upholding his oath of office a much graver offense.
It sure would be nice to like or dislike comments.
Like Jim’s comment.
Dislike not being able to readily go back to Statesman website. Its the pits. Yuck.
Click on the big Idaho Statesman logo up top…
Gee whiz, Rose…I complained about all that and more and the IT dude actually fixed those things. Only editing and like/dislike remain.
Dishonesty, is a firing offense of every job I’ve ever held. Filing a statement (tweating) under a US representatives name is a dishonest action and abusive action. Just like forgery. Firing is the least of Hardy’s problems at this time. You don’t steal someones identity from a person of leadership by posting under that leaders name and not expect the consequences in our jaded world.
Are you seriously trying to argue that what he did was forgery and stealing Labrador’s identity? Ridiculous. It was a tweet that he deleted after 14 seconds (presumably when he realized he had used the wrong account). He made a mistake. The tweet was hilarious and so is your comment.
Trapperpk, the guy made a mistake and immediately corrected it. Being fired for it is absurd. BTW, Statesman, that comment was nowhere near bawdy. The person who should be fired is the one who designed those god-awful ugly outfits.
If Raul didn’t dig the 2 broke chicks, he’s probably sealed in a glass sarcophagus in Moscow.
Trapperpk, it is common that a Congressman’s communications staff runs the Congressman’s facebook page and twitter account. Tweeting (not “tweating”) under your boss’ name is neither dishonest or abusive. And it is not identity theft.
Me Likey Broke Girls TOO!
What’s not to like?
That bad lipstick on the left…urrrgh
Harsh. If Raul is going to be this upset over a simple mistake then maybe he should keep his Twitter account to himself and not have others posting on his behalf in the first place.
Raul’s just covering his rear end. He doesn’t want to give any fodder to competitors to use against him in his run for governor. I didn’t see anything “bawdy” about the tweet. Apparently, like all tpartiers, Raul has a bug up his bum.
A tree-eating beetle.
I think the pings/trackbacks already have Raul done in…nice to see these in the new platform!
The problem isn’t that the tweet was bawdy, but it’s ethnically insulting and written in his boss’s name. “Me likey”? If he’d written “I like Broke Girls”, probably that wouldn’t be a big deal.
my fav is kat dennings
Whichever…I have no idea as I don’t watch the show.
This guy Labrador must be a real idiot are least a mindless dweeb. Im sure that Hardy didnt relise that he was on the wrong account and when he did relise it he deleted the tweet.Most likely Mr Hardy worked very hard to get Labradors getting elected to office and this is how he treats such a dedicated worker.I think come election time Id be out campaigning for who ever runs against Labrador.
The Congressman needs to work on his sense of humor, learn to unwind. and not sweat the small stuff.
Sanctimony and hypocrisy are not ‘family values,’ and throwing an underling under the bus for such a small error says as much about his character as it does his ability to remain in the kitchen.
Sen. Menendez agrees with the tweet.
Classic case of twitter hacking gone wrong