I can see how people in the audience would think she is "giving the middle finger to America", and thats enough to make you want to tell her to take a flying leap.
But If I'm Columbia University, I have to be thinking "Geez lady, is this all you got? You rose to these heights in business and your giving us an upgraded version of 'This little piggy went to market'"?
I don't even understand her analogy. If anything, the US would be considered the thumb. The digit that seperates us from the animals in other parts of the world.
The apology means little to me. If she didn't mean it why did she say it?