Cicilline: 'I never meant to mislead,' 'I'm sorry'

Posted: 4/11/2012 9:04:59 AM
Updated: 4/11/2012 9:41:36 AM

In an exclusive interview with WPRI-TV’s Tim White Congressman Cicilline is apologizing to Rhode Island voters for saying that Providence was in “excellent financial condition” during the 2010 campaign.

“I should not have used that word,” Cicilline said. “It obviously doesn’t describe the condition the city is in and it was never my intention to mislead people intentionally.”

The apology comes shortly after two subsequent polls reveal that the Congressman’s approval rating are extremely low, with one poll putting him at a dismal 14%.

"I should have been much clearer the challenge the city faces,” Cicilline said. “I should have been much louder in the consequences of the state cuts and to the extent anything I did contributed to the challenge the city faces, I'm sorry for that and I accept full responsibility for it.”

Pollster Joe Fleming, who conducted a recent poll for WPRI in which Republican challenger to Cicilline Brendan Doherty led in the polls by 15% said Cicilline is changing course to try to improve his poll numbers.

"The big factor was that he was trailing Brendan Doherty by 15% in the poll and an incumbent this late in the campaign trailing by 15% is not a good sign but when we pooled a year ago in may he was trailing by 13% so in the past year the strategy David Cicilline was using obviously did not work so now David is trying something different to move the poll numbers," Fleming told the WPRO Morning News with Tara Granahan and Andrew Gobeil.

Cicilline also said that he understands why people may feel he betrayed their trust. ““I understand now why people feel I misled them and I understand why people feel betrayed and it’s important for me to address that.”

The congressman said he was “overly optimistic” and that he should have addressed the city finances a while ago and spoke openly about his decision as mayor.

Dee DeQuattro | WPRO News