COLUMBIA, S.C. - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jim DeMint apologized Wednesday for saying unwed, pregnant teachers should not work in public schools.

In a prepared statement, DeMint said he was speaking as a parent who wants the best for children when he made the comment on Tuesday.

"So as my wife often reminds me, sometimes my heart disengages from my head and I say something I shouldn't and that's what happened yesterday," said DeMint, a father of four. "I clearly said something as a dad that I just shouldn't have said. And I apologize."

While responding to questions about his comment that public schools should not hire gays and lesbians as teachers, DeMint told the Aiken Standard for Wednesday editions that teachers should be held to a higher moral standard.

"I would have given the same answer when asked if a single woman, who was pregnant and living with her boyfriend, should be hired to teach my third grade children," DeMint told the newspaper for Wednesday editions. "I just think the moral decisions are different with a teacher."

DeMint, however, has pulled back, saying it was a mistake to use unwed, pregnant teachers as a way to defend his earlier comment made in a debate with Democrat Inez Tenenbaum.

"As a Senate candidate, it is my responsibility to present ideas and to answer questions in a way that will let people know what I will do as their U.S. Sen.," DeMint said. "I did not do that in this instance."

DeMint's campaign manager Terry Sullivan said the three-term congressman, who was raised by a single mother, did not mean to offend anyone with either comment.

However, DeMint's statement was not an apology to the several gay rights groups that objected to his comments during the debate, Sullivan said.

DeMint, if elected, does not plan to work for a ban on hiring openly gay teachers, campaign spokesman Geoff Embler said.

Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon said the apology shows DeMint hasn't helped his campaign this week.

"It's taking attention away from the issues that he's been talking about," Huffmon said. "This campaign is spinning its wheels."

Tenenbaum's campaign spokeswoman Kay Packett did not comment on DeMint statements and said Tenenbaum looks forward to next Tuesday's debate.