Texas Republican Joe Barton provokes anger and ridicule over his apology to BP for its treatment by the US government

At the congressional hearing on the tragic Gulf of Mexico oil spill, it was BP chief executive Tony Hayward who was expected to be savaged. But it was one of Hayward's inquisitors, Republican congressman Joe Barton, who ended the day fighting to save his own career after making a bizarre "apology" to BP that he was later forced to retract by his own party.

A member of the committee that was questioning Hayward over BP's failures in the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and disastrous oil leak, Barton apology made him a laughing stock – and provided a welcome PR gift to President Obama and the Democratic party after weeks of criticism.



In his opening statement, the Texas representative began by apologising to BP for government pressure that led to BP paying $20bn into a special fund to compensate victims of the oil spill:

"I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy in the first proportion, that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown – in this case a $20bn shakedown."

Continuing, Barton said:

"I'm only speaking for myself. I'm not speaking for anyone else, but I apologise. I do not want to live in a county where anytime a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong, it is subject to some sort of political pressure that is, again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown. So I apologise."

The surprise at Barton's remarks was heightened after it was revealed the Texas congressman – who once worked as an oilfield engineer – has has received nearly $150,000 in donations from an oil company, Anadarko Petroleum, which is a partner with BP in the Gulf oilfield.

The White House was quick to seize on Barton's comments. Vice President Joe Biden called Barton's apology "incredibly insensitive, incredibly out of touch," while White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "It's hard to tell what planet these people live on."

Republicans with districts bordering on the Gulf publicly denounced Barton. "I condemn Mr Barton's statement. Mr Barton's remarks are out of touch with this tragedy," said Republican Jeff Miller, who represents Pensacola in Florida, which has been hit by the effects of the spill.

According to the Daily Caller, Barton was summoned to a meeting with Republican leaders John Boehner and whip Eric Cantor, and told: "'Apologise, immediately. Or you will lose your position, immediately."

Earlier, Boehner and Cantor had taken the unusual step of issuing a statement criticising Barton, which said bluntly: "Congressman Barton's statements this morning were wrong."

As the wave of attacks mounted, Barton returned to the Hayward hearing and told the committee: "If anything I've said this morning has been misconstrued ... I want to apologize for that ... misconstruction." The White House's Gibbs immediately tweeted: "MICONSTRUCTED?!"

Barton's office then rushed out a further statement that "retracted" his original apology to BP:

"I apologise for using the term 'shakedown' with regard to yesterday's actions at the White House in my opening statement this morning, and I retract my apology to BP... I regret the impact that my statement this morning implied that BP should not pay for the consequences of their decisions and actions in this incident."

His apology for the apology came too late to shield Barton from the inevitable ridicule that followed, with one website – joebartonwouldliketoapologize.com – springing up offering further apologies for various historical events, including an apology to Germany over the first world war.