Watt teases Coble: ‘redneck cook’

Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) poked fun at his fellow North Carolinian Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.) at a committee hearing today, calling the Republican a “redneck cook.”

To be fair, Coble had opened the door to the remarks earlier when he offered this disclaimer to a question he asked Attorney General Eric Holder:

“Well, I don’t want to be portrayed as an inflexible, redneck cook, but I believe this would be reckless fiscal exercise,” Coble said, speaking of the possibility that the federal government would provide aid to detainees released from Guantanamo.

When it was Watt’s turn to question Holder, he seized on Coble’s comments.

“I’m a little reluctant to follow someone who characterizes themselves as a, what did Howard Coble call himself? Not a redneck cook. OK, well alright. Not a inflexible redneck cook. Just a regular redneck cook.”

Ouch.