'Did she just say something?' Tampa Democratic aide denies using cough to obscure calling city councilman 'a******'

When legislative aide Carrie Henriquez coughed during a city council meeting in Tampa, Florida on May 23, her boss was unsure if he heard a cough or if she said something derogatory.

In a video, Henriquez, an aide to Democratic Councilman Guido Maniscalc,  can be seen walking behind a row of Tampa City Council members and coughing. Some of them, the Tampa Bay Times is reporting, weren’t sure if it was strictly a cough or if Henriquez said something off-color.

Maniscalco, according to the Tampa Bay Times, initially thought he heard Henriquez say “the a-word” and later brought it up during a meeting in his office. And Henriquez, Maniscalco said, “looked at me like I was crazy.”

There has been speculation, the Tampa Bay Times reports, that Henriquez used “the a-word” in connection with Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera, who Maniscalco lost a chairmanship to. But Henriquez has officially denied using “the a-word” during that May 23 meeting, stressing that what Tampa City Council members heard was strictly a cough and nothing more.

“I said no words,” Henriquez asserted. “I coughed. I sneezed. I coughed. I sneezed. I can be salty sometimes, but I would never do anything to jeopardize (Maniscalco’s) reputation or my husband’s good name.”

Carrie Henriquez  is married to Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Bob Henriquez.

You can watch the video below: