In a speech at the pro-GOP Americans for Prosperity dinner, former Massachusetts governor and contender for the GOP presidential nomination Mitt Romney said he would “hang” Obama, then immediately realized his gaffe and tried to smooth over his mistake. His spokeswoman said the blunder was not meant to be malicious.

Referring to Ronald Reagan’s “misery index” that he wanted to “hang around Jimmy Carter’s neck” in the 1980 presidential election, Romney said of Obama, “Well, we’re going to have to hang the ‘Obama Misery Index’ around his neck.”

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Romney continued, “We’re going to hang him — ” before pausing, Politico reported , then continuing and clarifying. “So to speak — metaphorically. You have to be careful.”

The implications of mentioning “hanging” in reference to an African-American are not positive.

Romney’s spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, told Politico that the comment was not intended to be malicious.

“It is not what the governor meant and that was very clear in what he actually said,” she said. “It’s a ridiculous exaggeration of his actual comments.”