Sen. John Kerry apologized Wednesday for telling a joke about shooting Vice President-elect Dan Quayle, saying he regretted repeating the story he had heard in Washington.

At a businessman’s breakfast Tuesday, Kerry responded to a question about Quayle’s ability to govern by saying, “Somebody told me the other day that the Secret Service has orders that if George Bush is shot, they’re to shoot Quayle,” according to newspaper reports of the incident.

The Massachusetts Democrat then said: “There isn’t any press here, is there?”

“I shouldn’t have repeated the story. It was inappropriate and I apologize for doing so,” Kerry said in a two-line statement released by his aide, Larry Carpman.


No elaboration on the statement was planned, Carpman said.

Republican state Sen. David Locke, who co-chaired the Bush-Quayle campaign in Massachusetts, said he was shocked by the reported remark, saying it was irresponsible.

“It just seems to me to be an extraordinarily reckless comment for a public official to make,” Locke said.