Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown said this afternoon that he is sorry for remarks he made about President Bill Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.
"Bill Clinton was an excellent president," Brown said in a written statement. "It was wrong for me to joke about an incident from many years ago, and I'm sorry."
Brown's opponent, Republican Meg Whitman, is running a TV ad featuring a video clip in which Clinton, citing a CNN report, inaccurately claims Brown raised taxes during his first two terms as governor.
Brown said he erred in joking about Clinton. But he said the bigger issue is the Whitman ad's repetition of a debunked claim.
"I've made my share of mistakes, and my inappropriate joke about President Clinton is one of them," Brown said in his statement. "But from me you'll always get the truth."
Brown, who campaigned against Clinton for the presidential nomination in 1992, hasn't always thought Clinton was such an "excellent president."
He said on CNN's Crossfire in 1998 that Clinton policy failures were "overwhelming," claiming Clinton led the way as the Democratic Party was "taken over by a confederacy of corruption, campaign consultants and lobbyists," according to a transcript. Brown said he voted for Ralph Nader instead of Clinton in 1996
PHOTO CREDIT: Gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, talks to supporters on stage at the California Labor Federation picnic held in Land Park. September 6, 2010. Bryan Patrick, Sacramento Bee.
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