Statement of Senator John Kerry: “I Personally Apologize…”

John Kerry just released the following statement regarding his "poorly stated joke" at the rally in Pasadena, CA on Monday:

"As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop.

I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended.

It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don’t want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight for a change of course to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops."

The bottom line here is this distraction is about the debate on Iraq and the real issues, as Kerry said and not about personalities.