Barney Frank: Sorry for Hoodie Joke

Barney Frank is apologizing for opening up his super-sized mouth this weekend: Seems the soon-to-be former Massachusetts congressman made a crack about the Trayvon Martin case at a graduation ceremony this weekend, the AP reports. Speaking at a Dartmouth commencement Sunday, in which the university also gave an honorary degree to Hubie Jones, Frank said, "Hubie, I think you now have a hoodie you can wear and no one will shoot at you," tugging his graduation robe for emphasis.

The joke was, obviously, a reference to the Trayvon case, and the audience responded with nervous laughs and groans. Frank says he was trying to "ridicule the notion that a hooded sweatshirt is somehow sinister," and that he'd made the same joke in reference to himself at three previous commencements. Jones says he doesn't think Frank meant to offend anyone. (More Barney Frank stories.)