Schwarzenegger backtracks on McCain

WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Sunday defended presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's environmental record.

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press, Schwarzenegger said McCain is "the real deal on the environment." The comment came days after the California governor criticized the Arizona senator's call for lifting the federal ban on offshore oil drilling.

"I'm very proud of him. I'm 100 percent behind him," Schwarzenegger said in a taped interview from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

Schwarzenegger acknowledged he doesn't support everything McCain has proposed.

"I don't think that you will find that everyone agrees on everything, and he is terrific with the environment," the governor said.

Schwarzenegger's wife, journalist Maria Shriver, has endorsed McCain rival, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

"That's great that she has her own opinion about this," Schwarzenegger said. "I feel very passionate about the person that I endorsed, which is McCain. It makes it an interesting discussion at night at home when we have dinner."