Obama denies wife took swipe at Clinton

Candidate says 'whole thing about Hillary has been completely fabricated'

Charlie Neibergall / AP

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updated 8:22 a.m. ET Aug. 23, 2007

NEW YORK - Presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Wednesday his wife was not taking a swipe at Hillary Rodham Clinton when she said, "If you can't run your own house, you can't run the White House."

The remarks "were not about Hillary Clinton," Obama told The Associated Press as he left a campaign rally in New York.

His wife, Michelle, made the statement during a speech last week in which she talked about how she and her husband balanced the demands of raising children with campaigning.

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Some political commentators have interpreted her words as a veiled attack on Obama's chief rival for the Democratic nomination.

"She has been making that speech constantly about the decision we made to make sure that our family was strong," Obama said, "because if our family wasn't that strong then we couldn't be a strong leader in the White House."

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"The whole thing about Hillary has been completely fabricated," Obama added. "You guys have got to get it off your minds."

Obama was in New York to speak at a rally of campaign volunteers.

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