BOSTON -- Neither John Kerry nor the Democratic Party made apologies Monday after Theresa Heinz Kerry told a Pittsburgh journalist to "shove it" after she claimed he misquoted her.

John Kerry defended his wife, saying he doesn't have a problem with his wife speaking her mind.

Kerry was at the Kennedy Space Center with John Glenn Monday when he spoke out about his wife's outburst at an insistent journalist's questions.

"My wife speaks her mind appropriately," Kerry said.

On Sunday, Heinz Kerry had given a speech urging fellow Pennsylvanians to "turn back the sometimes un-American traits" creeping into politics.

Minutes later, Colin McNickle, the editor of the conservative Pittsburgh Tribune Review, questioned her about what she meant by "un-American".

"No, I didn't say that. Why are you putting words into my mouth?" she said.

Kerry seemed visibly disturbed by the exchange and went over to Pennsylvania's governor to discuss the situation before returning to McNickle to make one final point.

"You said something I didn't say. Now, shove it," she said.

Heinz Kerry is known for her independence and for speaking her mind -- much to the chagrin of some in the Democratic Party. Some said that she shouldn't have to apologize for her remarks.

"A lot of Americans are going to say, 'good for you. You go girl!' And that's certainly how I feel about it," Sen. Hillary Clinton said.

"This was sheer frustration aimed at a right-wing rag that has consistently and purposely misrepresented the facts in reporting on Mrs. Kerry and her family," Heinz Kerry's spokesman said in a statement.

The Tribune Review is known for its conservative editorial tradition and Heinz Kerry has had editorial disagreements with the newspaper in the past.