I was on Real Time with Bill Maher tonight. I was talking to someone at the party after the show, and they asked me how I thought it went. Okay, I said—and then I told them that I said something really, really stupid, half under my breath, and I was relieved that Bill and the rest of the panel didn't hear it. But folks watching the show at home might have heard it... so... I want to apologize for... um... wishing all Republicans dead.

I don't feel that way. My dad is a Republican. (Well, he says he's an independent, but he hasn't voted for a Democrat since JFK. My dad is a Republican.) I'm fond of Michael Bloomberg and William Weld and Lincoln Chafee, and I wish no harm—save the political variety—on those Republicans I loathe. Even the one Republican I really had it in for once upon a time—Ronald Reagan—managed to outlive my anger.

It was a stupid, rude, thoughtless remark, a flubbed expression of disgust. I was reaching for something like, "I wish they would drop fucking dead," which doesn't mean literally die, and I blew it. And it's no defense, but... the last time I wished someone dead on a live mic, I was on the radio talking about Bill Clinton back in 1993. Then, i got a deserved visit from the Secret Service.

I am sorry about my remark on Maher and my apology is sincerely offered. I regret it and I retract it and I apologize to anyone watching at home—particularly my father (!)—who may have heard me say it. I had a drink before the show—first and last time I've ever done that—but this wasn't a case of, "In vino, veritas." This was a case of, "In vino, stupidtas."