Rep. Frank tells black degree recipient: You won’t get shot wearing a hoodie

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Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) represented once again how his last name perfectly describes him Monday afternoon at Dartmouth University’s graduation, when he compared a black honorary degree candidate’s graduation robe to the now-iconic hoodie of the late Trayvon Martin.

According to WCVB-TV, the long time outgoing congressman made the crowd at Darmouth gasp at his latest candid opinion about his friend, Hubie Jones, who was receiving the degree.

“Hubie, you now have a hoodie you can wear and no one will shoot at you,” Frank said. “I think you’ll feel, I hope, pretty protected by that.”

Jones later indicate that he was not offended by his friend’s remarks.

“I don’t think he meant to be mean-spirited,” Jones said. “We do have a problem in this country. It came out at a time and occasion where it was a surprise. But you know Barney.”

Frank noted that this wasn’t the first time he used that line in a speech this year.

“I have used the ‘hoodie’ line to ridicule the notion that a hooded sweatshirt is somehow sinister,” he said. “I wore a hooded gown in three ceremonies earlier this year, and in my remarks at those events I used the same joke on myself.”

WATCH: Video from WCVB, which was broadcast on May 28, 2012.