Let the backpedaling begin. Georgia Senate candidate Rep. Jack Kingston who recently remarked that children should have to pay or sweep floors if they wanted to eat school lunches wants us to believe he wasn't talking about poor children.

GOP Rep.: School Lunch Comments Not Targeted At Any Income Group:

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) on Friday told CNN's "New Day" that he should have clarified his comments suggesting schools that subsidize students' meals make those students work for a free lunch. [...]

The congressman told CNN that his comments weren't a "policy statement," and complained about a lack of open discussion on the matter.

"This is not targeted to any one group," Kingston said. "It would be very helpful for kids in any socio-economic group to do chores and learn the work ethic. Those kids aren't there because of any fault of their own and I never suggested that they were."

"I never did say poor kids," he added.

Here's more of Kingston's back and forth with Chris Cuomo via CNN:

KINGSTON: Chris, first of all, thank you for letting me be on with you.

The discussion, the greater discussion, which was kicked off with a question of how many of you had a job when you were 14 or 15 years old, in which you learned something that you still applied to your day-to-day job or your life. And the discussion, the greater discussion was about the American work ethic, and how do we pass that on to the next generation.

And you know, to my critics in terms of well I did not specify clearly that this was not an indictment on anybody in a particular socioeconomic group, this would be good for all children, and as you probably know, Chris, there are schools in which kids do clean the table after they eat, there's one in Alexandria, Virginia. In Chatham County, you have to have 20 hours of community service in order to graduate.

CUOMO: Um-hum.

KINGSTON: So there are a lot of good things that kids can learn from chores in school, outside of the home, in the home, and things that I think we need to get back to in America for our work ethic.

CUOMO: Amen, amen, I say to you, Congressman. So let me ask you, should you be saying all kids, not just kids who are poor, so they need to have lunch subsidies, but all kids should do what you're suggesting, isn't that what you mean?

KINGSTON: I think so, and to be a little bit picky -- I again appreciate the time, Chris. I never did say "poor kids". You know, this was recorded by Democrat tracker. It was a public meeting. My Democrat opponent hires somebody to follow me around and record everything I say and turn things into politics.

Yeah, how dare those Democrats make this about politics. We know Republicans would never do a thing like that.