ROBERTSON COPIES LIMBAUGH

Caught by surprise that people would find a call to assassinate a democratically elected foreign leader morally repugnant, Robertson did the obvious: He denied saying it.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) -- Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson apologized Wednesday for calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, only hours after he denied saying Chavez should be killed. On Wednesday, he initially denied having called for Chavez to be killed and said The Associated Press had misinterpreted his remarks. "I didn't say assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out,'" Robertson said on his show. "'Take him out' could be a number of things including kidnapping."