WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Senate candidate John James on Monday took responsibility for running a TV ad in which the image of a swastika appeared, saying it was an error that got past him and his campaign team.

"I need to fess up and admit this was a terrible error on our part," James, a businessman who is running against U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said at a news conference in Livonia. "We should have caught this error and we didn't and there is no excuse."

James -- who posted the news conference on Twitter -- said he denounced "hatred in all its forms" and that the mistake was ultimately his as the head of his campaign. But he also said that the suggestion that the inclusion of the swastika might have any meaning in his ad had was an indication of "how low people are willing to go" to smear him.

Some Democrats had raised questions about the swastika that appeared in the ad.

At about the 10-second mark of James’ first general election TV ad, which is titled, “Ready to Serve,” the ad shows a school hallway as James, in his narration, talks about “failing schools.” To the left in the hallway is a bulletin board with a red, white and black swastika pinned to it.

There is no mention of the symbol nor does it appear to have any direct link to the rest of the ad, which is centered on James' argument that change is needed in Washington to fix Michigan's most pressing problems. It was not immediately clear at which school the ad was shot.

James’ campaign initially declined to respond directly to a question from the Free Press about whether the producers of the ad had noticed the swastika and whether it was intended to carry any message, instead calling the mention of the image "a desperate attempt to divert attention” in the campaign.

“(U.S. Sen. Debbie) Stabenow (D-Mich.) and her allies will say or do anything to get her re-elected,” James’ campaign manager, Tori Sachs, said to the Free Press Monday afternoon.

The campaign is expected to rotate in a new ad in place of “Ready to Serve” beginning Tuesday.

To read more on this story:

Stabenow, James go after each other in first U.S. Senate debate

Stabenow, James debate in Detroit: Fact-checking their claims

The swastika is widely associated with the rise of Nazi Germany and the radical white nationalist movement.

"I don't know whether it was put there purposefully or what the context is ... Unfortunately, he (James) has aligned himself with Donald Trump and all the baggage that he carries (on this issue)," Brandon Dillon, the chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, told the Free Press on Monday.

Trump — who has endorsed James — made comments seen as supportive of white nationalists in the wake of violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the summer of 2017.

When the ad aired in early October, Michael Joyce, a Midwest communications director for the Republican National Committee, touted it, saying it “highlights important issues facing Michiganders.” No mention was made of the imagery.

Some Democrats complained about the use of the swastika, however. Jen Strayer Eyer, a veteran Democratic political consultant in Ann Arbor, posted on Facebook Monday, saying that, “There is no way that swastika was just there and nobody noticed it while filming. That was an intentional subliminal message. Don’t doubt that for a second.”

The liberal website Electablog also noted the swastika in a posting, but said it appeared without context.

James said he would "do everything in my power to make sure this never, ever happens again."

Contact Todd Spangler at 703-854-8947 or at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tsspangler.

