"Every one of us sometimes makes a mistake, right?" Schwarzenegger added, "Something comes out of your mouth and you say, 'Oh, I wish I wouldn't have said that.' " Obama's gaffe came while joking with Leno about practicing in the White House bowling lanes. He said he had improved his game, but still had only managed to hit a high score of 129. "It was like the Special Olympics or something," the president said with a grin. The joke drew some laughs from the crowd, but it was seen as offensive by many. The remark set off a frenzy among conservative bloggers and was a hot topic on radio and TV talk shows around the country. Maria Shriver, a Democrat who endorsed Obama last year, said in a statement Friday that his bungled effort at humor was hurtful. "While I am confident that President Obama never intended to offend anyone, the response that his comments have caused, coupled with the reaction of a primetime audience, demonstrate the need to continue to educate the nondisabled community on the issues that confront those with a developmental disability," she said. "Oftentimes we don't realize that when we laugh at comments like this it hurts millions of people throughout the world." Maria Shriver, daughter of Peace corps Founding Director Sargent Shriver, is a writer, journalist and first lady of California.
Arnold Ok with Obama Remark; Maria, Not So Much
Schwarzenegger defends Obama after TV gaffe
Saturday, March 21, 200
(03-21) 04:00 PDT Washington - --
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the White House Friday for a meeting on infrastructure spending, defended President Obama for his politically incorrect joke about the Special Olympics on the Jay Leno Show Thursday night.
"I know, because of conversations I've had with the president about Special Olympics ... I know where his heart is," said the Republican governor, a weightlifting coach for Special Olympics since 1979. Schwarzenegger's mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the group.
"Every one of us sometimes makes a mistake, right?" Schwarzenegger added, "Something comes out of your mouth and you say, 'Oh, I wish I wouldn't have said that.' "
Obama's gaffe came while joking with Leno about practicing in the White House bowling lanes. He said he had improved his game, but still had only managed to hit a high score of 129.
"It was like the Special Olympics or something," the president said with a grin.
The joke drew some laughs from the crowd, but it was seen as offensive by many. The remark set off a frenzy among conservative bloggers and was a hot topic on radio and TV talk shows around the country.
On the flight back to Washington Thursday night, a White House spokesman insisted the president meant no offense to the group or its 200 million athletes with disabilities.
Even before the taped interview aired, Obama called Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver from Air Force One to apologize for the remark.
"He expressed his disappointment, and he apologized in a way that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate this population," Shriver said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America." He added that the president wants to invite Special Olympic athletes over to the White House to bowl or play basketball.
While Schwarzenegger was defending Obama, his wife, California first lady Maria Shriver, was not so quick to forgive.
Shriver, a Democrat who endorsed Obama last year, said in a statement Friday that his bungled effort at humor was hurtful.
"While I am confident that President Obama never intended to offend anyone, the response that his comments have caused, coupled with the reaction of a primetime audience, demonstrate the need to continue to educate the nondisabled community on the issues that confront those with a developmental disability," she said. "Oftentimes we don't realize that when we laugh at comments like this it hurts millions of people throughout the world."
While campaigning last year, Obama bowled a 37 over seven frames and his gutter balls were replayed endlessly on television.
Names & faces: Special Olympics bowler's challenge to the president. Sports, D2
E-mail Zachary Coile at zcoile@sfchronicle.com.
