Jimmy Carter Backpedals Hard On Bush Slam

From his fans at the Associated Press:

Carter Calls Bush Words ‘Perhaps Careless’

Former President Backtracks On Bush

May 21, 2007

ST. BERNARD’S PARISH, La. — Former President Jimmy Carter is trying to clarify his criticism of President George W. Bush that appeared in an Arkansas newspaper.

Carter was quoted by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as saying the Bush administration “has been the worst in history.”

That prompted an angry reaction from the White House, which called Carter “increasingly irrelevant.”

On NBC’s “Today” show Monday morning, the former president said his words were “perhaps careless or misinterpreted.” He says he was only responding to a question about foreign policy, comparing the Bush administration to that of Richard Nixon.

“I wasn’t comparing the overall administration and I certainly was not talking personally,” Carter said in the interview Monday. “I’m careful not to criticize any president personally.”

Carter said Bush’s foreign policy is “much worse” than Nixon’s… 

I’ve notced that some publications of this same AP story leave out Carter’s claim:

“I’m careful not to criticize any president personally.”

Apparently some editors think their readers will only swallow so much.