Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) found himself on the receiving end of criticism this week for comments he made to The New York Times about voter ID laws. Now he says it was simply a misunderstanding.

“You say one thing, it goes around in a circle and comes back and it’s completely different than what you said,” Paul told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. “I was never saying I was against showing your driver’s license. You know how things get distorted sometimes.”

Paul said he raised the issue of voter ID because some Americans believe it’s an attempt by Republicans to suppress the minority vote. He told Van Susteren:

There was a time in our history when the vote was suppressed. Actually, it was mostly by Democrats back then. But for some reason, [many Americans] think Republicans are a part of this historical suppression of the African-American vote. They think this is just another ploy. So that is the perception. I don’t think that is the truth at all. But because it is perceived that way, we need to be aware of people’s feelings.

The Heritage Foundation’s Hans Von Spakovsky, manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative, was among those who criticized Paul for telling the Times that “Everybody’s gone completely crazy on this voter ID thing.”

>>> Read More: Why Voter ID Protects the Integrity of Our Elections