His claim has the Think Progress and Daily Kos crowd going nuts, so we might as well cover it too.

BROOKS: You know, all three of us spend a lot of time covering politicians and I don’t know about you guys, but in my view, they’re all emotional freaks of one sort or another. They’re guaranteed to invade your personal space, touch you. I sat next to a Republican senator once at dinner and he had his hand on my inner thigh the whole time. I was like, ehh, get me out of here.

HARWOOD: What?

BROOKS: I can only imagine what happens to you guys.

O’DONNELL: Sorry, who was that?

BROOKS: I’m not telling you, I’m not telling you.

A few things.

First of all, why would a Republican senator — in all likelihood a supporter of family values — put his hand on the inner thigh of a right-leaning columnist at a public dinner? I’m not saying family values politicians haven’t proven hypocritical (they have); it would just seem odd that a Republican that high-ranking would risk getting caught groping a columnist for the New York Times at an open dinner.

Second, why haven’t we heard this story until now? Why is it that Brooks couldn’t remember to mention this until he needed a convenient anecdote to back-up the argument he was making? Did he just happen to forget getting groped in public by a US Senator until this point?

Third, is anyone else having trouble believing that David Brooks — by all accounts a straight man — sat through an entire dinner with another man’s hand on his inner thigh? I don’t know about you, but that individual’s fingers would’ve been broken had they attempted such a move on me for even a few seconds. Brooks supposedly allowed the hand to stay for the entire dinner. Even commenters at Think Progress are finding that part a bit odd.

I’m calling bull on this one.

Via HAH.