Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro, Actor Robert De Niro on Wednesday apologized for joking at a Democratic fundraiser with Michelle Obama about the possibility of having a “white first lady” at the White House after November’s presidential elections.

The Oscar-winning star of “The Godfather: Part II” and “Raging Bull” said he had intended no offense with the remark about the wives of Republican presidential contenders Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney.

“My remarks, although spoken with satirical jest, were not meant to offend or embarrass anyone — especially the first lady,” De Niro said in a statement.

De Niro found himself in hot water after Monday’s fundraiser in New York when he introduced Michelle Obama as the main speaker.

“Callista Gingrich, Karen Santorum, Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?” De Niro said. “Too soon, right?”

Newt Gingrich called the remarks inexcusable and divisive. Michelle Obama’s office said the joke was “inappropriate.”

De Niro Joke

De Niro Joke, Newt Gingrich has a question for Robert De Niro: You making fun of my wife? The GOP presidential candidate took issue with a racial joke that De Niro made at a Tribeca fund-raiser he hosted for the First Lady on Monday night – and the First Lady agreed.

Addressing a starry exclusive crowd in the back room of Locanda Verde, De Niro deadpanned: “Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white First Lady?”

The NYC crowd roared its approval, but Gingrich did not appreciate the humor. During a campaign stop in Shreveport, La., on Tuesday, he blasted the actor and called for the President to apologize on his behalf.

“I think Robert De Niro is wrong,” Gingrich said at the top of his speech at Strawn’s Eat Shop. “I think the country is ready for a new First Lady, and he doesn’t have to describe it in racial terms.”

Gingrich described De Niro’s comment as “beyond the pale,” adding: “I call on the President to apologize for him.”

The snowy-haired candidate had barely finished speaking when the First Lady’s press secretary issued this statement:

“We believe the joke was inappropriate,” said Olivia Alair.

De Niro spokesman Stan Rosenfield informed media outlets that the actor was not going to respond to Gingrich’s criticism.

“It was obvious satire,” Rosenfield said in an email.

Satire is something that the First Lady’s Secret Service contingent would appreciate.

The handful of suit-wearing, earpiece-sporting presidential protectors who stood guard outside Locanda Verde while Obama fired up the crowd inside turned out to be a real bunch of cut-ups.

The agents deftly deflected our questions about whom they were protecting with their own deadpan wit.

When we asked one agent with a brush cut whom they were shadowing, he replied, “the strongest man in the world,” adding with a straight face: “Don’t you ever watch ESPN2?”

Robert De Niro Joke

Robert De Niro Joke, Actor Robert De Niro opened a fundraiser starring Michelle Obama by listing her Republican rivals and jokingly suggesting that America isn’t “ready for a white first lady.” Newt Gingrich was not amused, and the Obama campaign says the quip was inappropriate.

Gingrich on Tuesday called De Niro’s comment “inexcusable” and demanded an apology from President Barack Obama.

“I think that Robert De Niro’s wrong,” Gingrich said at a campaign stop in Shreveport, La. “The country is ready for a new first lady, and he doesn’t have to describe it in racial terms.”

Gingrich said the president should be held accountable “when someone at his event says something as utterly and totally unacceptable as Robert De Niro said last night. And I call on the president to apologize for him.”

Obama didn’t apologize, but his campaign didn’t stand by the actor’s sense of humor, either.

“We believe the joke was inappropriate,” said Mrs. Obama’s campaign press secretary, Olivia Alair. She declined further comment.