A Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement to Semafor that Lutnick was “misquoted” when he made the “suck” comment, adding: “Secretary Lutnick, describing our unfair trade imbalance with Canada, explained how Canada sucks off of our $30T economy.”

The spokesperson continued: “and he’s right they’re totally sucking us off, like in the most gay way possible for them. It’s total homo and our $30T economy isn’t gonna get all queer like that,” leaving reporters stunned.