Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain said on Sunday that he does not find a need to apologize for his "low-life scum" remarks to members of the Pink Group who disrupted the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week.

The group wanted to arrest former State Secretary Henry Kissinger for his alleged role in "war crimes" when he was the country's top diplomat in the 1970s.

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McCain threatened the protestors with arrest and told them, "You're going to have to shut up, or I'm going to have you arrested ... Get out of here, you low-life scum."

The senator insisted that was the only way to handle a rowdy crowd, and if similar disruptions would happen again, he would do the same thing. He said he could tolerate people popping up at hearings and shouting because it is still part of freedom of speech, although such disruptors are still escorted by Senate security staff, CBS reports.

In the incident last week, McCain points out that members of the group threatened Kissinger. "These people rushed up. They were right next to Henry Kissinger waiving handcuffs at him," he stresses.

The fact that Kissinger, at 91 and with a shoulder injury, showed up in Congress and shared with legislators his wisdom accumulated as state negotiator, should be appreciated.

McCain said he still is outraged at those "terrible people" who would threaten an old man with a broken shoulder. He said such insensitive action is "beyond any normal behavior."

On the same day, McCain described U.S.-Israel relations as "never been worse" under the administration of President Barack Obama. He said Obama had unrealistic expectations on the degree of cooperation he would get from Israel, especially the Palestine and nuclear issues with Iran.

McCain said he is not placing the entire blame on Obama, but adds, "No other president has had such a difficult relationship with the state of Israel since it became a country," quotes Washington Times.

TagsJohn McCain, henry kissinger, War Crimes, Pink group