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.