Lieutenant Gov. Mead Treadwell has hired Rick Gorka to be a spokesman in his quest to run for U.S. Senate in the 2014 primary, which appears to be an interesting choice for the normally staid, rather august Treadwell.

Gorka, who is from Spokane, has for years worked for various Republican politicians and for the Republican National Committee. He was a regional spokesperson for the McCain-Palin campaign.

He also worked for Mitt Romney during his 2012 run. Gorka is probably most famous for his role in that campaign, when he traveled with Romney during an overseas tour which was later dubbed by one publication as National Lampoon’s European Diplomatic Tour.

The tour was a media disaster. First, Romney insulted the Brits when he implied that they weren’t doing enough to organize the Olympics, then the Palestinians with some odd comments about culture. The last leg of the trip included a tribute at the Polish Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. After the visit, the press tried to ask some questions about the trip’s gaffes, questions Romney apparently really didn’t want to answer.

“Kiss my ass. This is a holy site,” Rick Gorka yelled at one reporter at the holy site. He told another reporter to “Shove it.”

Gorka took some time off from the campaign after that.

As Treadwell’s guy, he is already making waves by twisting the facts. Most recently, he took a quote out of context by claiming that Sen. Mark Begich insulted Alaskans for saying that the national Republicans who want to unseat him are “outsiders.”

“I’ve been in a lot of tough races. Bring it on. I was born and raised here,” Begich told the Anchorage Daily News. “Those guys are visitors. Come on in, outsiders, and see how Alaskans treat ya.”

Gorka’s response via twitter:

.@MarkBegich claims if you’re not BORN in Alaska you are a “visitor” and an “outsider.” Fact is 60% of Alaskans were born elsewhere #AKSEN

— Rick Gorka (@Rick_Gorka) September 16, 2013

Begich was obviously not talking about Alaskans who live in the state but were born elsewhere. He was referring to people like Gorka.

Unilke Treadwell’s campaign, most of Begich’s campaign staffers are Alaskans. Some born here, some not.

Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com