Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Tuesday wagged his finger at the two Republican state lawmakers who were overheard appearing to joke about sexual misconduct on a live mic earlier this week.
“It’s pretty disappointing and, you know, I don’t know what to say. It’s disappointing,” Stitt told a local reporter from Fox 25.
“It’s just unfortunate that those kinds of things happen, and you know, but, I’m going to continue to try to set a high standard for Oklahomans,” he said. “We’re better than that, and we have fantastic people in the House and Senate and you don’t let one person’s mistake taint the whole group.”
Two Oklahoma state lawmakers could be heard joking about sexual misconduct earlier this week ahead of Stitt’s televised press conference, according to a video posted by local station News 9.
Apparently unaware that their mics were on, state Reps. Mark McBride (R) and Scott Fetgatter (R) began chatting.
“You molested this girl after Kannady did?” McBride asked, referencing a state House member who is currently under investigation for allegedly inappropriately touching a woman at an official event and in the presence of other lawmakers.
“No, I was at the table and I allowed it,” Fetgatter responded.
“You allowed it to happen,” McBride repeated. “You sure it wasn’t a donkey or a goat?”
Neither McBride nor Fetgatter responded to TPM’s request for comment. Fetgatter told News 9 on Tuesday that his comments were “taken out of context and were only in response to a question directed toward me.”
“I apologize if my remarks in any way trivialized the serious nature of sexual assault,” he said. “To be clear I have never seen anything inappropriate happen or sexual harassment occur during my time in the House of Representatives.”
Watch News 9’s video below. The conversation begins at the 4:00 timestamp:
