(AP) — State Auditor Mike Foley is apologizing for his recent comment about low-income people and their money-management skills.

Foley, a Republican, had been criticized by Nebraska Democratic Party leaders for his statement at a speech last week. They said his statement that low-income people lack money-management skills showed he didn’t understand that people sometimes have to live paycheck to paycheck.

Foley said earlier this week that his comment was taken out of context from a speech in which he criticized the state’s way of managing an energy assistance project for poor residents.

On Friday Foley said he’d failed to choose his words carefully in a sweeping generalization and that his remark had been misinterpreted as disparaging hardworking Nebraskans.

He apologized to anyone who may have found his comment hurtful.