The high school-age son of Sen. Jeff Flake (Rep. AZ), Tanner Flake, used his Twitter account to threaten the “faggot” who stole his bike, warning that he “will find you, and … will beat the crap out of you,” joked about an acquaintance stealing one-liners because he’s Jewish, and used the handle “n1ggerkiller” in posted screenshots of scores from games on “Fun Run,” a social gaming app, BuzzFeed.com reported.
A source told BuzzFeed that Flake’s YouTube comments are also littered with offensive language. A preliminary review of the hundreds of comments shows he repeatedly called other users “nigger” and “faggot,” called Mexicans the “scum of the Earth,” and on several occasions bragged that his father is a member of Congress.
Sen. Flake apologized Wednesday for his son’s use of racial epithets, homophobic slurs and antisemitic remarks in social media.
“I’m very disappointed in my teenage son’s words, and I sincerely apologize for the insensitivity,” the first-term senator, who was elected last year, said in a statement. “This language is unacceptable, anywhere. Needless to say, I’ve already spoken with him about this, he has apologized, and I apologize as well.”