George Bush has distanced himself from comments made by a leading Republican crusader on moral values who declared that one way to reduce the crime rate in the US would be to "abort black babies".
Speaking on his daily radio show, William Bennett, education secretary under Ronald Reagan and drugs czar under the first George Bush, said: "If you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose; you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down."
He went on to qualify his comments, which were made in response to a hypothesis that linked the falling crime rate to a rising abortion rate. Aborting black babies, he continued, would be "an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down".
The comments brought condemnation from all sides. The White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said: "The president believes the comments were not appropriate."
Democrats called for Mr Bennett to withdraw his comments, and for his radio show to be dropped. "Republicans, Democrats and all Americans of goodwill should denounce this statement, should distance themselves from Mr Bennett," said Jesse Jackson. "And the private sector should not support Mr Bennett's radio show or his comments on the air."
Mr Bennett subsequently defended his words, saying that it should not be taboo to talk about race and crime. "There was a lot of discussion about race and crime in New Orleans," he told ABC news. "There was discussion - a lot of it wrong - but nevertheless, media jumping on stories about looting and shooting, and roving gangs and so on.
"There's no question this is on our minds," he added. "What I do on our show is talk about things that people are thinking ... we don't hesitate to talk about things that are touchy. I'm sorry if people are hurt, I really am. But we can't say this is an area of American life [and] public policy that we're not allowed to talk about - race and crime."
Mr Bennett served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities under Reagan from 1981-85, and as secretary of education from 1985-88. He became "drug czar" under the first President Bush in 1989.
Since leaving government in 1990, Mr Bennett has built a career as an author and public figure promoting conservative values. He has written or co-authored a string of highly successful books including five on virtues and faith for children and young people.
But his image was tainted by revelations two years ago that he had a multi-million dollar gambling habit, spending hours in casinos in Las Vegas. Reports at the time estimated that he had lost $8m (£4.5m) in 10 years. He responded that he had won more than he had lost.His most recent books include, The Death of Outrage: Bill Clinton and the Assault on American Ideals; and Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism.