Bob DeLeo reportedly apologized to Joe Kennedy after photo with ‘tell ya fatha’ shirt
The Massachusetts House speaker apparently didn't know what it meant.
Massachusetts House Speaker Bob DeLeo must have missed the last two Senate primary debates.
According to a Politico article Wednesday night, DeLeo recently apologized to Rep. Joe Kennedy III after the Winthrop Democrat was photographed holding a “tell ya fatha” shirt in reference to Sen. Ed Markey’s viral debate jab at the Newton congressman last month.
In the post-primary election story on Kennedy’s loss, five people familiar with the situation told Politico that DeLeo privately offered an apology to Kennedy, saying he did not realize what the derisive shirt meant.
Speaker DeLeo has one too pic.twitter.com/EGgMflUFkJ
— Stephanie Murray (@stephanie_murr) August 23, 2020
Markey first repeatedly told Kennedy to “tell your father” to stop running negative ads against him during an Aug. 11 debate and reprised the mantra during an Aug. 18 debate, as the high-profile race between the two Massachusetts Democrats grew personal. The remark was a reference to speculation — so far unsubstantiated — that Kennedy’s father, former Rep. Joe Kennedy II, was funding a super PAC with old unused campaign funds.
Kennedy noted that he long pressed for an agreement forbidding super PACs from entering the race, which Markey — backed by third-party environmental groups — had declined.
Still, the Markey campaign capitalized on the initial ‘tell ya fatha” moment, spinning the Boston-accent-tinged remark into a biting online video as well as $30 T-shirts to catalyze the energy of his base of young and liberal supporters — as well as, incidentally, the 70-year-old House speaker.
DeLeo, who backed Markey since the beginning of the race, joined the Malden native on the campaign trail Aug. 22 in Winthrop, where he was spotted with an independently made version of the shirt. The 15-term state representative and Winthrop native was also a longtime Markey constituent during the senator’s 37 years in the House.
His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Get Boston.com's browser alerts:
Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com