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Joseph P. McCain II, the 66-year-old younger brother of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, apologized after calling 911 while stuck in traffic near Alexandria, Virginia, in October 2008, swearing at a dispatcher and hanging up.

McCain was driving home to Alexandria after campaign appearances in Scranton, Pennsylvania, when traffic backed up at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, the Interstate 95 drawbridge that spans the Potomac River. He later said he had waited roughly 40 minutes when he picked up his phone and dialed 911.

"It's not an emergency," McCain told the operator, according to accounts of the call, before asking why traffic on one side of the span sat still while the other side moved. When the dispatcher replied, "Sir, are you calling 911 to complain about traffic?" McCain used an expletive and hung up.

The dispatcher called the number back and reached McCain's voicemail, leaving a message. McCain then phoned 911 a second time to complain about the message the operator had left, reports said. The audio released by the city's emergency communications center captured both calls.

A recording of the exchange circulated in the campaign's final days, according to news accounts at the time, and became a distraction about a week and a half before the November 4 election. McCain withdrew from campaign activities and apologized, calling the incident "the biggest mistake I will ever make in my life, at least in politics." He said he believed he had disconnected the call before he cursed, and that he had mailed a letter of apology to the Alexandria dispatch center.

McCain, a Navy veteran who had served as a low-key surrogate for his brother, had drawn attention earlier that month for describing northern Virginia as "communist country," a remark for which he also apologized. No charges were filed over the 911 calls.