Opinion: Mike Huckabee removes foot from mouth

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Mike Huckabee used his appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday to reiterate his regret for a comment he made while speaking to the National Rifle Assn. convention two days before.

You’ll recall, of course, that Huckabee’s quick quips on the campaign trail enlivened his run for the GOP presidential nomination. On Friday, after hearing a chair fall over backstage during his speech, Huckabee ‘joked’ that the loud banging sound was Sen. Barack Obama tripping over a chair after ‘somebody aimed a gun at him and ... he dove for the floor.’

It was quickly pointed out that a remark about an attempted assassination of the Democratic presidential front-runner wasn’t very smart -- or amusing -- and the former Arkansas governor just as quickly posted an apology on his blog. On Sunday, he went further:

‘It was a dumb, off-the-cuff remark,’ he told ‘Meet the Press’ host Tim Russert, adding: ‘And, you know, it wasn’t the first dumb thing I’ve ever said and -- let me go ahead and announce on this program -- it won’t be the last dumb thing I’ve ever said. ... This wasn’t funny, I’ll be the first to tell you that. Shouldn’t have said it. I apologize. I don’t know what else I can do.’

-- Leslie Hoffecker