New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie apologizes for civil rights remark during gay-marriage discussion

ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRENTON, N.J. -- Gov. Chris Christie has apologized for a remark he made about civil rights but says he's not sorry for using a slang term to describe a lawmaker who compared him to segregationist Southern governors.

Christie, a Republican, spoke Tuesday night during TownSquare Media's "Ask the Governor" program on radio station New Jersey 101.5 FM. He apologized to anyone offended by his comment that people in the civil rights struggle of the 1960s would have been happier to have the matter settled by public vote rather than by dying in the streets. He was comparing civil rights to the fight for gay marriage.

But he didn't back down Tuesday from calling Democratic Assemblyman Reed Gusciora "numb nuts" after the lawmaker compared him to former Govs. George Wallace, of Alabama, and Lester Maddox, of Georgia. He says his late mother used the term.

Click here to read the complete article.