Obama Says Clinton Meant No Offense in RFK Comment

'Sometimes you get careless,' he says

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted May 24, 2008 9:48 PM CDT

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Obama Says Clinton Meant No Offense in RFK Comment — Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., shakes hands with supporters during a campaign stop in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, May 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Barack Obama said today that he believes Hillary Clinton meant no harm when she made her much-maligned comment about Robert Kennedy's assassination, the Chicago Tribune reports. "Sen. Clinton says that she did not intend any offense by it, and I will take her at her word on that," he told a Puerto Rico radio station. Clinton has apologized for noting that RFK was shot in June, a remark that set off a firestorm given the concerns over Obama's security.

"I have learned that when you are campaigning for as many months as Sen. Clinton and I have been campaigning, sometimes you get careless in terms of the statements that you make, and I think that is what happened here," said Obama. (Read more Hillary Clinton stories.)