George Allen: 'Macaca' Was A 'Made Up Word,' Not A 'Racial Insult'

Former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), fresh off an official comeback announcement, recently sought to address his use of the racial slur "macaca" during his reelection campaign in 2006.

"I made mistakes and I take responsibility for them," Allen said in an interview with Bearing Drift, before seemingly attempting to play off the slur as a fabricated word that other people had mistakenly interpreted as offensive, a move that he similarly attempted in 2006.

"I needlessly drew a college student who was following me around all over Virginia into the race, and I should not have. He was just doing his job and I should not have made him part of the issue," Allen said of S.R. Sidarth, the Democratic tracker of Indian descent he was addressing. "It was not done with malice, and if I had known that that made-up word would be connoted as a racial insult I would not have said it."

After Allen used the phrase in summer 2006, it quickly became a racially-charged ball and chain that is largely thought to have sunk him in his battle against his opponent, Democrat Jim Webb.

The Hill reported Monday that some Virginia Republicans, such as Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, are less than enthusiastic about Allen's attempted resurgence.

Stewart, who is heading to Richmond, Va. on Tuesday to talk to party activists and court donors ahead of his own likely Senate bid, said he, along with other Republicans in the state, is "concerned that [Allen's] not going to be able to shake off the 'macaca' moment."

For more on the history of "macaca" and Allen's usage of the smear, read Blue Virginia's coverage.