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Senator Mark Udall Apologizes for Comments on Sotloff, Foley

Sen. Mark Udall apologized for saying that two reporters beheaded by militants in the Middle East would agree that the U.S. should not "be impulsive"
Image: Sen. Mark Udall
Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) speaks during a news conference to announce they will fast-track new legislation to prevent for-profit employers from refusing to cover health benefits for religious reasons at the U.S. Capitol July 10, 2014 in Washington, DC. Co-authored by Udall and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the legislation would override the Supreme Court's recent decision in the Hobby Lobby case and compel for-profit business to cover contraception for their employees, as required by the Affordable Care Act. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images file

Sen. Mark Udall on Monday apologized for saying that two reporters beheaded by militants in the Middle East would agree that the United States should not "be impulsive" in responding to their deaths.

Udall, a Democrat, made the comments in an untelevised debate with challenger Rep. Cory Gardner on Saturday night in the western Colorado town of Grand Junction. Udall has been criticized by Republicans for saying the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which currently controls much of Iraq's heartland, is not an imminent threat to the United States. At the debate, he argued that the two American journalists whose beheadings it filmed and released would agree with him.

"Steve Sotloff and James Foley would tell us, don't be impulsive," Udall said. "Horrible and barbarous as those executions were, don't be impulsive, come up with a plan to knock ISIL back."

Gardner, a Republican, did not respond to the statement at the debate. But on Monday he slammed the incumbent. "It's outrageous that Senator Udall would put words into the mouths of dead Americans," Gardner said in a statement. Udall apologized for the remark less than an hour later. "I should not have invoked the names of James Foley and Steven Sotloff," he said in a statement. "It was inappropriate and I sincerely apologize."

Colorado's senate race is one of the most competitive in the country.

IN-DEPTH

- The Associated Press