Weak official. Never thought in advance what he said, didn’t like standing by it once outed. This is why I think there should be no anonymity to comments. If you say it, own it. It wasn’t illegal, why quit?
Bingo!
Publicly apologize for the statement. Explain that it was misunderstood. Then unveil the revised version, which you explain was what you really meant:
Same words, but underlined and followed by 5 exclamation points.