Nigerian Ambassador Calls on Senator Cruz to Apologize for Comment

Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States is demanding that Senator Ted Cruz apologize for comments in which he joked that it seems like “Nigerian e-mail scammers” have been running the dysfunctional Healthcare.gov website.

“We deplore the statement, and we demand an apology, and we demand it be withdrawn,” Ambassador Ade Adefuye told Politico.

“It is unfair of any senator to essentially use citizens that are law abiding, to use Nigerians as cannon fodder,” Adefuye said. “We recognize that we have efforts on the part of Sen. Cruz to appeal to some animus in his domestic base. In the course of doing that, to allow him to ridicule a country and its citizens is completely over the top. He should not denigrate Nigerians in order to appease these domestic constituents.”

“Many people from Nigeria are making meaningful contributions to American society, and Nigerians are very law abiding and making contributions to their host community,” Adefuye added. “It was a joke that went too far, and we demand an apology.”