Watch video of Cheney's comment

Vice President Dick Cheney joked about West Virginians during a Monday talk at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. - and many West Virginia leaders didn't find it funny.

Cheney was responding to his distant relationship to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate.

"We'd always known about the Cheney family line on my father's side of the family, back to Massachusetts in the 1630s. My grandmother was named Tyler, but it turned out she was descended from a Richard Cheney ... who landed in Maryland in the 1650s," Cheney said.

He then added, "So I had Cheneys on both sides of the family, and we don't even live in West Virginia."

After the audience laughed, Cheney added, "You can say those things when you're not running for re-election."

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin asked Cheney for an apology.

"I truly cannot believe that any vice president of the United States, regardless of their political affiliation, would make such a derogatory statement about my state or any state, for that matter.

"West Virginia is home to some of the most patriotic people in the nation," Manchin said. "Our sons and daughters have answered the call to duty every time a president has needed their service. They deserve better from the vice president, and so I would simply ask for his apology."

Cheney's office issued an apology later Monday.

Watch video of Cheney's comment

Vice President Dick Cheney joked about West Virginians during a Monday talk at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. - and many West Virginia leaders didn't find it funny.

Cheney was responding to his distant relationship to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate.

"We'd always known about the Cheney family line on my father's side of the family, back to Massachusetts in the 1630s. My grandmother was named Tyler, but it turned out she was descended from a Richard Cheney ... who landed in Maryland in the 1650s," Cheney said.

He then added, "So I had Cheneys on both sides of the family, and we don't even live in West Virginia."

After the audience laughed, Cheney added, "You can say those things when you're not running for re-election."

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin asked Cheney for an apology.

"I truly cannot believe that any vice president of the United States, regardless of their political affiliation, would make such a derogatory statement about my state or any state, for that matter.

"West Virginia is home to some of the most patriotic people in the nation," Manchin said. "Our sons and daughters have answered the call to duty every time a president has needed their service. They deserve better from the vice president, and so I would simply ask for his apology."

Cheney's office issued an apology later Monday.

"The vice president's offhand comment was not meant to hurt anyone," Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said. "On reflection, he concluded that it was an inappropriate attempt at humor that he should not have made. The vice president apologizes to the people of West Virginia for the inappropriate remark."

Before Cheney's apology, West Virginia's members of Congress also reacted angrily.

"That a man who has ascended to the seat of vice president of the United States would openly display such contempt and astounding ignorance toward his own countrymen is an insult to all Americans," said Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. "Now that he or the administration he represents no longer needs their vote, Mr. Cheney apparently feels that he is now free to mock and belittle the people of West Virginia.

"This pitiful comment is not entirely surprising when you consider the source," Byrd said. "Vice President Cheney's words reflect the attitude of an administration and a party that says what they must to get elected and then turns their backs on those they promised to represent."

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito said Monday, "This is exactly the type of stereotyping that we don't need from our elected officials.

"It's disrespectful, and it's certainly not funny. The vice president should know better than to make a remark like this one. We all work hard to further West Virginia's good name, only to have comments like this tarnish it. As a proud state, I can say we are disappointed," said Capito, West Virginia's only Republican in Congress.

Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va., said, "We may owe the vice president a debt of gratitude for yet another great West Virginia slogan: 'Dick Cheney is not from here.'"

In February, Manchin criticized producers filming "Shelter," a Hollywood horror movie set in West Virginia, for seeking extras that were extraordinarily short or tall, and people with unusual body shapes and facial features.

The casting call specifically advertised for a 9- to 12-year-old girl with an "other-worldly look" who "could be an albino or something along those lines. ... 'Regular-looking' children should not attend this open call."

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.