Story highlights Jonathan Gruber appeared before a House hearing on Tuesday

Gruber said "My own inexcusable arrogance is not a flaw in the Affordable Care Act"

(CNN) MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber apologized Tuesday for his "glib, thoughtless and sometimes downright insulting comments" about Obamacare and the intelligence of American voters.

Gruber, who had tremendous influence in shaping the Affordable Care Act, came under fire last month after newly unearthed videos showed him suggesting that Democrats purposefully misled Americans while passing the President's signature health care law.

"I would like to begin by apologizing sincerely for the offending comments that I made," he said in his testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

"I sincerely apologize both for conjecturing with a tone of expertise and for doing so in such a disparaging fashion," Gruber added. "It is never appropriate to try to make oneself seem more important or smarter by demeaning others. I know better. I knew better. I am embarrassed, and I am sorry."

Years-old but newly surfaced video show Gruber saying the legislation was drafted amd sold to the public in a way that masked the penalty for not getting health insurance, so that voters wouldn't consider it a tax.

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