White House chief of staff John Kelly said he had nothing to apologize for in comments he made about Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla.
"I'll apologize if I need to. But for something like that, absolutely not. I stand by my comments," Kelly told Fox News' Laura Ingraham in an interview that aired Monday night.
Kelly had told reporters that Wilson was grandstanding at a 2015 event for gaining funding for a building named for two slain Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.
When the Florida Sun-Sentinel posted video that disputed Kelly's remembrance of the event, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that questioning a four-star general such as Kelly was "highly inappropriate."
The battle of words involving Wilson, Kelly, President Donald Trump, and other White House officials began when Wilson said the president was insensitive in a call to Gold Star widow Myeshia Johnson.
"As far as the young widow goes, she has every right to say what she wants to say," Kelly told Ingraham.
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