McCain refers to Iran’s president as a ‘monkey’; GOP rep calls jab ‘racist’

Oh, dear. Republican Sen. John McCain on Monday called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a "monkey." The blunt-speaking Arizona lawmaker leveled the jab—swiftly condemned as "racist" by a Republican representative—via Twitter:

Apparently stung by the response on Twitter, McCain later added:

In response, Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan tweeted:

It's not the first time McCain's comments about a foreign leader on Twitter have raised eyebrows. In August 2009, he tweeted about an "interesting meeting" with Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, calling him "an interesting man."

McCain, long a fixture on the Senate Armed Services Committee, recently joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which vets nominees to senior diplomatic posts.