OAKLAND, Calif. — Candidate for California governor Jerry Brown apologized Monday for taking a swipe at fellow Democrat and former President Bill Clinton over his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

His apology came a day after Brown said his Republican rival Meg Whitman is using Clinton footage from the 1992 Democratic presidential primary to lie about Brown in a current campaign attack ad.

In response to the ad, Brown took a jab at Clinton.

“Bill Clinton was an excellent president,” Brown told reporters Monday. “It was wrong for me to joke about an incident from many years ago, and I’m sorry.”

Brown said he called Clinton’s office and apologized to one of the former president’s aides, not directly to Clinton.