Rep. Alan Grayson (D., Fla.), no stranger to incendiary rhetoric, did not spare even his friends, stinging them with his acid tongue in an interview with Orlando's WKMG-TV about his run for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat in 2016.
After prominent Democratic donor John Morgan said a run by Grayson for the seat vacated by Marco Rubio would be "political suicide," Grayson told reporter Mike Holfeld that Morgan ought to "lay off the scotch, at least until noon."
Because of the controversy sparked by his numerous bizarre antics, including calling a reporter a "shitting robot" after a probe showed he incorporated two hedge funds in the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes, comparing the Tea Party to the Ku Klux Klan, and suggesting the GOP health care plan was for sick people to "die quickly," numerous Democrats are against him running in the high-profile race and potentially embarrassing the party nationally.
Here a couple of quotes by Grayson, collected by the Washington Post:
On winning the primary"I would be very surprised if I ever lost a primary in my life. Our voters will crawl over hot coals to vote for me." -- in an interview with CNN
On being Florida's Obama"The only Democratic candidate who has been able to [get out the Democratic vote in Florida] in the past six years is Barack Obama, who won twice statewide because he ran a populist, exciting campaign that motivated our voters to vote. I told [establishment Democrats] I'm going to run a Barack Obama type campaign if I run for the Senate." -- in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times
On the tea party being like the KKK
"[T]here is overwhelming evidence that the tea party is the home of bigotry and discrimination in America today, just as the KKK was for an earlier generation. If the shoe fits, wear it." -- in a statement after a fundraising e-mail used a burning cross as a "T" to spell out "Tea Party"
On this lobbyist
In 2009, he called Federal Reserve lobbyist Linda Robertson a "K Street whore" because she was opposed to an audit of her agency. He later apologized and said, "I did not intend to use a term that is often, and correctly, seen as disrespectful of women."