HILLARY CLINTON: My Wealth Gaffes Were An 'Unartful Use' Of A Few Words

REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to members of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries during their annual convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 10, 2014.

Potential Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton acknowledged Tuesday night that she recently had been "unartful" in the way she described her own wealth and how she can relate to middle class Americans.

"I shouldn't have said the five or so words that I said, but my unartful use of those few words doesn't change who I am, what I've stood for my entire life, what I stand for today," Clinton told PBS's Gwen Ifill, according to a partial transcript posted online ahead of Wednesday evening's airing of the interview.

Clinton appeared to be responding to a pair of recent gaffes she made as she travels across the country for a tour of her book, "Hard Choices," that is widely seen as a proxy for an expected national campaign for office.

In an interview with The Guardian published last Saturday night, Clinton, who owns a reported multimillion dollar fortune and commands as much as $200,000 a speech in speaking fees, said she wasn't "truly well off."

Earlier in June, Clinton drew mockery when she said she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, "struggled" to buy "houses" after leaving the White House.

Bill Clinton defended his wife Tuesday on the wealth issue, insisting she was "not out of touch" with the country. But Hillary Clinton, speaking with PBS later that day, said she didn't need the help.

"My husband was very sweet today, but I don't need anybody to defend my record. I think my record speaks for itself," she told Ifill.

(h/t CNN)