UPDATED Thursday, June 21, 2012 --- 2:40 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde says he regrets comments he made last week in which he said the media should stop writing "sob stories" about food stamp recipients because they've been widely misinterpreted.

Hovde last week said that the media should stop covering sad stories about low-income people who can't get benefits and instead focus on broader issues like the national debt.

Hovde said Thursday at a luncheon sponsored by political website wispolitics.com that he regrets making the comment. He says it didn't portray his true feelings and he has done more charity work than 99.9 percent of Americans.

Hovde says focusing on his comments distracts from the larger issue about the threat of an economic collapse that would devastate the poor and middle class.

Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.