BATON ROUGE–Rep. Steve Scalise (R–LA), the third-ranking Republican in the House, today admitted that he had given a speech to a political group known for a long history of racism.

“Looking back, I know it was a mistake,” said Scalise. “But when the Republican National Committee called and offered me a speaking slot at the convention, I just didn’t do my homework.”

Scalise admitted later that he didn’t realize the Republican Party’s long track record of systematically disenfranchising African-Americans and fighting measures aimed at reducing economic, social, and political inequality. To this day, the group (which also goes by the acronym “GOP”) continues to try to take away the vote from millions of American citizens.

“It’s a pretty ugly business,” admitted Scalise. “I had no idea.”

Although no transcript of his speech survives, contemporary reports suggest that Scalise gave a light-hearted speech in which he imagined a world in which problems magically fixed themselves without any involvement from government.

Apparently the speech sounded better in its original German