New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie apologized today for not being "clear enough" in recent discussions of same-sex marriage and the struggles for racial equality.

Bob Jordan, our Gannett correspondent in Trenton, reports that the uproar over Christie's comments reached far enough to draw Georgia civil rights leader John Lewis to Trenton this week to scold the Republican governor.

Christie, who opposes gay marriage, last week urged proponents of gay marriage to support putting the matter on the ballot. "People would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South," he said.

Lewis and others have said the comment showed an insensitivity to the difficulty advancing such a question in racially divided states 50 years ago, Jordan reports.

Christie, on his monthly Ask the Governor radio program, said his comments were misinterpreted but said that was his fault for failing to communicate clearly.

Christie said he meant to underscore that gay marriage supporters should take advantage of the referendum option if they believe enough people would vote for it. Christie repeated his promise to veto a same-sex marriage bill if it reaches his desk.