Utah Senator Orrin Hatch was quick to brag about being named ‘Utahn of the Year’ by a local newspaper, seemingly not realizing the honor was laced with sarcasm.
The Republican was awarded the title by Salt Lake City Tribune, who wrote that Hatch had had the most influence of all Utahns thanks to an ‘utter lack of integrity that rises from his unquenchable thirst for power’.
Sen. Hatch, 83, appeared to not have read the reasoning behind his win, as he soon tweeted ‘Grateful for this great Christmas honor from the Salt Lake Tribune’.
Questionable honor: Senator Orrin Hatch was awarded Utahn of the Year thanks to an ‘utter lack of integrity that rises from his unquenchable thirst for power’
The Salt Lake Tribune wrote in an editorial accompanying the announcement, that it was awarding Utahn of the Year to the person who has had the most influence in the state ‘for good or for ill’.
It pointed out that as for Sen. Hatch, it was firmly the latter.
In addition to crediting his win to his lack of integrity and thirst for power, the paper denounced Sen. Hatch for his support of President Trump’s new tax cut bill.
The editorial also called for Sen. Hatch, who has served since 1977, to step down or for voters to ‘end it for him’ in the 2018 election.
The octogenarian senator tweeted a picture of the front cover with his thanks to the Salt Lake Tribune, and was subsequently mocked by several users.
Didn’t get the message: Sen Hatch appeared not to have read why he had won, and tweeted his thanks, although the 83-year-old’s spokesperson later said it was a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ message
Anthony Michael Kreis posted: ‘When you haven’t read the book but present your book report to the class anyway,’ linking to Sen Hatch’s tweet.
‘Picturing Hatch’s reaction when the aforementioned aides finally muster up enough courage to explain to him what is actually in the article,’ Caryn Lonz added.
Sherry Lucich wrote: ‘Haha! Your incompetence is embarrassing. You may want to actually READ the article. It was NOT a compliment.’
However, the senator’s spokesperson later claimed that the tweet had been ‘tongue-in-cheek’ and sarcastic.
Spokesperson Matt Whitlock accused the newspaper of ‘baselessly attacking’ Sen. Hatch ‘to satisfy their unquenchable thirst for clicks.’