U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes is taking heat for his warm-up act.

Speaking at a John McCain rally in Concord Saturday, the Republican said that opening speakers need to "make sure we don’t say something stupid" because the liberal media would distort the remarks.

He then accused Democrat Barack Obama of "inciting class warfare” and said that "liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God," according to The New York Observer.

A spokeswoman for Hayes, who is running for re-election against Democrat Larry Kissell, at first denied that Hayes had made the remark to the Washington-based political newspaper Politico, calling its account "irresponsible journalism."

However, a reporter with local radio station WFAE had audio of the remarks. (Politico posted the audio here.)

"I genuinely did not recall making the statement and, after reading it, there is no doubt that it came out completely the wrong way. I actually was trying to work to keep the crowd as respectful as possible, so this is definitely not what I intended," Hayes then said in a statement.