A naked Rahm Emanuel is accused of poking congressman Eric Massa in the chest because of his failure to support Mr Obama's health care bil
President Obama’s troubled and marathon effort to reform the US health industry took a bizarre twist yesterday after a Democratic congressman said he was lambasted over the issue by a naked White House chief of staff in a men’s locker room.
The image of a naked Rahm Emanuel angrily poking the congressman in the chest because of his failure to support Mr Obama's health care bill was becoming a major distraction for the White House and a boon for conservative talk radio hosts.
The congressman, Eric Massa, announced on Friday he was resigning because, he said at the time, his cancer had returned. By Sunday however, he had changed his story, claiming he was forced out of office – the House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations that he sexually harassed a male staffer – through a conspiracy hatched by top Democrats.
Mr Massa, a liberal, has suddenly become a hero to conservatives because of his opposition to the health legislation. Even Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk radio host who vilifies Mr Obama and democrats on a daily basis, has invited him on to his show.
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The allegations against Mr Emanuel, described by Mr Massa as the “Devil’s spawn”, were described by the White House as “ridiculous”. Yet at a time when Mr Obama is desperately trying to end the health care debate and get a bill through Congress in a matter of weeks, the episode is the last thing the President needs.
As Mr Massa put it, “I am showering, naked as a jaybird, and here comes Rahm Emanuel, not even with a towel wrapped round his tush, poking his finger in my chest, yelling at me because I wasn’t going to vote for the president’s budget. Do you know how awkward it is to have a political argument with a naked man?"
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