New York: Barack Obama, now seeking Democratic nomination for the presidential elections, says he regrets offending people by his recent remarks that small-town Americans are bitter and cling to guns or religion.
In an interview with Winston Salem Journal, he, however, said "the underlying truth of what I said remains, which is simply that people who have seen their way of life upended because of economic distress are frustrated and rightfully so".
"And I hear it all the time when I visit these communities. People say they feel as if nobody is paying attention or listening to them and that is something - that is one of the reasons I am running for president. I saw this when I first started off as a community organizer and the steel plants had closed, and I was working with churches in communities that had fallen on hard times. And they felt angry and frustrated."
