A Democratic candidate for Congress is apologizing after reportedly making a remark about not being "a crusty old Marine" when she was asked at an event how she thinks she will fare with the large military population in her California district given that her Democratic opponent is a retired Marine colonel.

Cosmopolitan magazine reported that Sara Jacobs, who is facing retired Marine Col. Doug Applegate in the race for outgoing Republican Rep. Darrell Issa's seat, responded to the question by saying, "It's true, I'm not a crusty old Marine." According to Cosmo, that resulted in an awkward silence from the group.

Jacobs said her comment was taken out of context.

"An article came out this morning that took something I said out of context," Jacobs said in a statement on Facebook. "I want to make it clear -- this had nothing to do with Colonel Applegate, he was never mentioned, and I have nothing but respect for his military service. The comment was in response to a Marine who jokingly referred to himself that way first."

"I called Colonel Applegate to make sure he knew this wasn't about him," Jacobs' Facebook post contnued. "I apologize to any Marines or other members of the military who this offended. That was never my intention."