Via TPM:

Mississippi state Rep. Gene Alday (R) publicly apologized on Tuesday for lamenting that he came from a place where “all blacks are getting food stamps” for not working.

“I didn’t do it with intent, but I am deeply sorry for my recent statements and I was wrong to say what I did and there is no excuse for my behavior,” Alday said to the Mississippi House of Representatives, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. “I value the relationships I’ve made with everyone in this House.”

Alday’s apology referred to an interview he had given the Clarion-Ledger in which he said that he comes “from a town where all the blacks are getting food stamps and what I call ‘welfare crazy checks.’ They don’t work.” Alday also said that when he recently went to the emergency room, he “laid in there for hours because they (blacks) were in there being treated for gunshots.”

After the interview, Alday complained to the newspaper that the interview portrayed him in an unflattering manner.