US Secretary of State John Kerry briefs journalists during a press conference in Nusa Dua in the Indonesian resort island of Bali, on Oct. 5, 2013.
Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that foreign diplomats poked fun at him during the recent government shutdown by offering to pick up the tab for his meals.
Addressing the liberal think tank Center for American Progress at its 10th anniversary conference, Kerry, who wasn’t paid during the shutdown, said the gridlock hurt America’s image with foreign governments, the Huffington Post reports.
“They are all sizing us up, every day they are taking our measure,” Kerry said. “And what we do in Washington matters deeply to them and that is why a self-inflicted wound like a shutdown we just endured can never happen again.