--- title: Schweitzer Apologizes For Off-Color Remarks description: The presidential hopeful looks to salvage his shot at the Democratic nomination with a Facebook post canonical: https://time.com/2903098/schweitzer-apologizes-for-off-color-remarks/ author: Giri Nathan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-19T23:05:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:47.493Z article:section: Politics og:title: Schweitzer Apologizes For Off-Color Remarks og:description: The presidential hopeful looks to salvage his shot at the Democratic nomination with a Facebook post og:url: https://time.com/2903098/schweitzer-apologizes-for-off-color-remarks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7229fc4512b5fd01/6986988906f2c104b932f8fa/brian-schweitzer1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1665 og:image:height: 937 og:image:alt: Brian Schweitzer og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Schweitzer Apologizes For Off-Color Remarks twitter:description: The presidential hopeful looks to salvage his shot at the Democratic nomination with a Facebook post twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7229fc4512b5fd01/6986988906f2c104b932f8fa/brian-schweitzer1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Schweitzer Apologizes For 'Gaydar' Remarks > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Giri Nathan](https://time.com/author/giri-nathan/) ## Giri Nathan Jun 19, 2014 11:05 PM UTC  Former Democratic Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer at the Montana AFL-CIO annual convention in Billings, Mont. on May 10, 2013. Former Democratic Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer at the Montana AFL-CIO annual convention in Billings, Mont. on May 10, 2013. Matt Brown—AP by [Giri Nathan](https://time.com/author/giri-nathan/) ## Giri Nathan Jun 19, 2014 11:05 PM UTC Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer [took to Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=10152468339373150&id=304130558149) on Thursday to apologize for [saying](http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-gonzo-option-20140618) House Majority Leader Eric Cantor set off his “gaydar” and for using a vulgar metaphor for Sen. Diane Feinstein’s relationship with the intelligence community. “I recently made a number of stupid and insensitive remarks to a reporter from the _National Journal_. I am deeply sorry and sincerely apologize for my carelessness and disregard,” Schweitzer, considered a long-shot candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, wrote Thursday afternoon. While Schweitzer has been praised by some for his candor and theatrics—as governor, he killed Republican-sponsored bills with a branding iron that read “VETO”—these recent remarks triggered a torrent of criticism, causing many to [speculate](http://time.com/2896165/brian-schweitzer-gaydar-eric-cantor-dianne-feinstein-national-journal-democratic-party/) that that he’d erased whatever small chance he had at nabbing the nomination. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2903098/schweitzer-apologizes-for-off-color-remarks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2903098/schweitzer-apologizes-for-off-color-remarks/"},"headline":"Schweitzer Apologizes For 'Gaydar' Remarks","datePublished":"2014-06-19T23:05:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:47.493Z","description":"The presidential hopeful looks to salvage his shot at the Democratic nomination with a Facebook post","url":"https://time.com/2903098/schweitzer-apologizes-for-off-color-remarks/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7229fc4512b5fd01/6986988906f2c104b932f8fa/brian-schweitzer1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Giri Nathan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/giri-nathan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7229fc4512b5fd01/6986988906f2c104b932f8fa/brian-schweitzer1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Brian Schweitzer","caption":"Brian Schweitzer","creditText":"Matt Brown—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2903098/schweitzer-apologizes-for-off-color-remarks/","name":"Schweitzer Apologizes For 'Gaydar' Remarks"}}]}] ```