Hillary Clinton on Friday voiced regret for evoking the assassination of Robert Kennedy as part of her explanation for why she was staying in the Democratic presidential race.
The former first lady had earlier cited the 1968 primaries, during which Kennedy was assassinated in June while seeking the Democratic nomination, as an example of past races that had continued into the summer.
The comment was criticised for its insensitivity to the security concerns surrounding Barack Obama, her Democratic rival, striving to become America’s first black president.
She said later: “I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever.”
Mrs Clinton made her original remark in a meeting with editors in South Dakota.
The Obama campaign called her remarks “unfortunate”.
By Andrew Ward reports in Washington for The Financial Times
