The remark, spoken openly during a Capital Projects and Bond Oversight committee meeting, referred to bargaining for a lower price on a lease. Its use prompted condemnation from Jewish leaders, including Rabbi Schlomo Litvin -- who later spoke personally with the legislators involved, Sen. Rick Girdler and Rep. Walker Thomas, and described the conversation to WKYT.
But a spokesperson for the American Jewish Committee said, while "belated apologies are welcome," the lawmakers helped to spread a "classic anti-Semitic trope."
The incident comes less than a year after the General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning anti-Semitism following a number of alarming acts against the Jewish community in the state.
