A top adviser to US Republican presidential candidate John McCain apologised today after he was quoted as saying a September 11-type attack before the November election would benefit McCain.
"I deeply regret the comments, they were inappropriate," Charlie Black said in a statement after McCain said that if Black had made such a comment, "I strenuously disagree" with it.
"I recognise that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country and placing its security before every other consideration," said Black, one of McCain's most trusted political advisers.
Fortune magazine said Black, in discussing how national security was McCain's strong suit, had said when asked about another terrorist attack on US soil that "certainly it would be a big advantage to him".
A McCain campaign official said Black did not remember making the particular comment but did not dispute the characterisation.
The official said Black was speaking in the context that any day on the campaign trail that the theme was national security, was a good day for McCain.
McCain, asked about the magazine article at the news conference, did not sound familiar with it.
"I cannot imagine why he would say it. It's not true," McCain said, adding he had worked hard since the September 11 attack to prevent another such attack.
