Clinton apologizes for RFK reference

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., May 23 (UPI) -- Hillary Clinton, in a South Dakota newspaper interview, invoked the name Friday of Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during the 1968 presidential campaign.

Explaining why she remains in the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination even though most observers say Barack Obama has the nomination all but locked up, Clinton noted previous races were still contested past this point in the election calendar.

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," the Democratic presidential contender told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

The reference to Kennedy's assassination drew immediate and widespread criticism because of its potential implications, and Clinton apologized for it Friday, The New York Times reported.

"The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Sen. Kennedy," she said. "And 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."

Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, called Clinton's statement "unfortunate."