This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Just moments after launching his presidential bid with the new Justice Party, former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson unloaded on politicians who cater to defense contractors and said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, is "essentially traitorous."
Anderson, made the comments in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, the only mainstream news outlet who attended the event. Here is his full quote:
"The military budget is completely out of hand. You have both Republicans like Rob Bishop in the first district in Utah and Democrats like Diane Feinstein fighting for billions more for the F-22 that is completely outmoded and they are doing it only so they can bring home the bacon. It is pork-barrel politics of the worst kind and I think it is essentially traitorous at this point when there is so many more needs for our country."
We asked Bishop, whose district includes the state's main military installations, to respond and his spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin did just that, poking a little fun at Feinstein, a senator from California.
"Not sure if it's more offensive that he accuses Rob of being 'traitorous' or that he suggests that Rob and Diane Feinstein are similar in some way," she said. " Both are equal indications of how far off his comments are from reality."
— Matt Canham
Twitter: @mattcanham