.gif)
Hillary Clinton trigged a firestorm on Friday after bringing up the 1968 assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy to justify her decision to prolong her long-shot White House campaign.
Clinton quickly appeared on camera to say she had not meant to be offensive, after the camp of her Democratic rival Barack Obama complained that such comments had no place in the 2008 election campaign.
The former first lady originally told a newspaper board in South Dakota she could not understand calls for her to quit the race, arguing that history showed that some past nominating contests had gone on into June.
"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary, somewhere in the middle of June, right?" Clinton said in an interview with the Argus Leader newspaper editorial board.
"We all remember, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California, I don't understand it," Clinton said.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton condemned the remarks.
"Senator Clinton's statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign," he said.
Clinton appeared to be referencing the Kennedy killing, at the end of the 1968 Democratic presidential race, simply to show that previous Democratic nominating contests have stretched well into June.
But any reference to political assassinations are sensitive territory, especially for supporters of Obama, who accepted Secret Service protection last year, long before the time it is offered to most presidential candidates, because of unspecified threats.
Clinton said in her subsequent statement that she had not meant to be offensive, and that the Kennedy family had been in her thoughts, after Senator Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer this week.
"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," Clinton said.
"My view is that we have to look to the past and to our leaders who have inspired us and give us a lot to live up to, and I'm honored to hold Senator Kennedy's seat in the United States Senate from the state of New York."
