Hovde regrets remark on the poor misinterpreted

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By Tony Galli - bio | email

MADISON (WKOW) -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde told 27 News he regrets his remark last week about his exasperation with another published "sob story" about people on food stamps.

"Sure, because if it tries to portray something that I am not meaning, or intending, then of course I do," Hovde said after an appearance in Madison.

During a videotaped appearance last week in Brookfield, Hovde implored a reporter to take a different focus on the economy.

"Stop always writing about, oh, a person can't get the food stamps, or this and that. I saw something the other day, another sob story."

Hovde Wednesday said his reference was to what he called significant fraud in the food share program. Hovde also said the remark was part of a broader discussion of needed reform, from Wall Street, to government assistance.

"I talk about...entitlements, because we know we have massive fraud in our food stamps, and then I get attacked, 'Oh he's not for the poor.' "

The liberal advocacy blog The Huffington Post has criticized the remark from Hovde, a millionaire financier.

Hovde said he's built homeless shelters across the world, and has committed a significant portion of his wealth to charitable causes.