US:US VICE-PRESIDENT Dick Cheney has apologised for saying on Monday that he has "Cheneys on both sides" of his family tree - on his father's and mother's sides, going back to the 1600s - then adding, "And we don't even live in West Virginia."
The quip drew groans from the audience at the National Press Club, prompting the vice-president to add, "You can say those things when you're not running for re-election." West Virginia is considered a potentially key swing state in November.
The remark drew swift denunciations from West Virginians of both parties, with Representative Shelley Moore Capito (Republican) calling it "disrespectful" and "certainly not funny," and Senator Robert Byrd (Democrat) saying that Mr Cheney had displayed "contempt and astounding ignorance toward his own countrymen".
Mr Cheney quickly moved to defuse the matter, with spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride telling the Associated Press: "He concluded that it was an inappropriate attempt at humour that he should not have made. The vice-president apologises to the people of West Virginia for the inappropriate remark." The comment, which came during a question-and-answer session, was prompted by a question about his distant kinship with Barack Obama.
Mr Cheney made it clear he did not want to talk about a new tell-all book by former White House spokesman Scott McClellan, saying he does not plan to read it "anytime soon".
He staunchly defended President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, disputing McClellan's conclusion that "the Iraq war was not necessary" and asserting that the invasion came after careful deliberation. And he criticised a proposal to suspend the federal gas tax, saying it would provide "minimal" relief to American consumers while avoiding the "main issue" of oil supply and demand, and arguing that the US needs to produce more oil. - ( LA Times-Washington Post Service)