Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) sought to clarify his complaints about President Barack Obama’s handling of border security, telling a conservative blog that liberal activists — and not the White House — is holding the issue hostage.

Earlier this month, Kyl caused a stir among conservatives. When discussing a meeting he had with Obama on immigration, he told a group of voters that, “They are holding [border security] hostage” in order to pass comprehensive immigration legislation.

White House officials vehemently denied those charges, and for several days Kyl stood by his statements.

But on Friday, Kyl told the National Review Online’s “The Corner” blog his comments had been misinterpreted and that he had been referring to liberal activists and not the White House.

Arguing his words had been taken a “bit out of context,” Kyl told the conservative blog that, “I did not try to start a fight. This meeting happened a month ago and we were talking in the context of his political problems. He was talking about how they think that if we secure the border, you guys won’t have the incentive to work on comprehensive immigration reform.”