Rep. Ellison makes light of slipping up on colleague's name

Live TV can be a perilous place — just ask Rep. Keith Ellison.

While many of us suffer from major brain freezes in everyday life, the Minnesota Democrat had the unfortunate experience of goofing the name of his House colleague on national television.

The cringeworthy moment came on Sunday during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Up with Chris Hayes.” While talking defense spending cuts, guest host Steve Kornacki mentioned that Ellison had “teamed up with a very conservative Republican” on a piece of bipartisan legislation.

Ellison replied, “No doubt about it, me and Mick — oh my [goodness]… Um, I can’t think of Mick’s last name.”

The congressman knew he was on the right track with an “m” name, so took another stab at it, saying with a laugh, “Uh, Mick Mikulski I think it is. He and I teamed up on a letter on which we proposed some serious defense cuts and we’re looking forward to seeing that happen.”

The only problem? Mikulski of course is the surname of Maryland Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski. The House member Ellison meant to say was actually Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.).

Ellison made light of his boo-boo, telling ITK, “We all slip up sometimes. I think I would have forgotten the name of my own kids in that moment.”

The congressman added, “It was a pleasure to work with Mick Mulvaney on reducing wasteful Pentagon spending, and I hope to continue working with him in the future.”

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