WASHINGTON — The journalist who Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush called a "major-league a------" said Saturday the remark contradicted Bush's promise to restore dignity to the White House.
But New York Times reporter Adam Clymer said the media had overplayed the remark, made last Monday, and doubted it would have much impact on Bush's race against Vice President Al Gore.
"Using bad language while promising to restore dignity to the White House is a contradiction that . . . will hurt in a tiny, modest way," Clymer said on CNN's "Reliable Sources."
Texas Gov. Bush was unaware his microphone was live when he leaned over to his running mate, Dick Cheney, at a Labor Day rally in Naperville, Ill.
Clymer said the Bush campaign has not apologized for the remark. He said he expected to continue covering Bush without difficulty.
"I think this story has been covered and covered and replayed on every cable network that I've passed by," Clymer said. Clymer said he received interview requests from as far away as Melbourne, Australia, and Vienna, Austria, but kept quiet for most of the week in order to stay out of the news.
"I really didn't want to become part of the news. I didn't want to get in a fight with a presidential nominee," he said.
Clymer said the Bush campaign had complained about a story he wrote on health care in Texas they thought was too harsh.