Murkowski: Dems ‘couldn’t be more wrong’ in linking Barton BP gaffe to GOP overall

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Sunday slammed Democratic allegations that Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-Texas) now-infamous apology to BP represents a broader allegiance to “big oil” among Republicans.

Murkowski, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said Barton’s apology was “absolutely wrong” but claimed that Democratic efforts to capitalize on it politically “couldn’t be more wrong.”

“For the White House, the administration to be running with this as the issue, let’s not forget we had 11 people die, we have an environmental disaster unfolding, we have an economic disaster that is unfolding,” said Murkowski, the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, referring to the April 20 explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig and subsequent oil spill.

“Let’s not be distracted by saying Joe Barton made this gaffe or this inappropriate comment. Let’s focus on what we need to do, which is getting relief to the Gulf, making sure that they have every asset possible, making sure that we have a claims compensation system that works for them, let’s focus on providing what the people of the Gulf need, not pointing fingers back and forth,” she added.

Barton’s last Thursday apologized for what he called a White House “shakedown” that forced BP to create a $20 billion oil spill claims fund that will be independently managed.

Barton retracted the statement under heavy pressure from GOP leaders, but the damage was done.

The Democratic National Committee is featuring the comment in ads that call on Republicans to “stop apologizing to big oil,” and White House aides say Barton’s comment reflects broader GOP thinking.

“I do have to say that what we saw here was an example of what some folks in the Republican Party truly believe, which, in this case, was BP was the wronged party,” said Bill Burton, White House deputy press secretary, on Friday.