WASHINGTON — Republican congressional candidate Bill Flores, blaming a headache for a verbal miscue, has backed away from saying he’s “not philosophically opposed” to raising the Social Security retirement age for future recipients.

Flores, challenging longtime Democratic Rep. Chet Edwards of Waco, said Friday he “misspoke” in a Dallas TV interview when questioned on Social Security.

“Voters should be assured that I absolutely do not support raising the retirement age for Social Security,” he said in a statement.

Bill Flores said “I’m not philosophically opposed to raising the retirement age” for Social Security.

Edwards on Friday jumped on Flores for the mixed messages.

“The difference between Mr. Flores and me is that I strongly oppose raising the Social Security retirement age to 70,” Edwards said. “With Mr. Flores, it depends which day of the week you ask him.”

The dustup stems from Flores’ taped interview earlier this week with “Inside Texas Politics,” which airs at 9 a.m. Sunday on Dallas station WFAA-TV.

Flores, a retired oil and gas executive from Bryan, called program host Brad Watson on Thursday and asked him not to air Flores’ response on Social Security because he had a headache during the interview and the remarks did not properly characterize his position.

On the show, Flores and Edwards separately were asked if they backed ideas by some Republicans and Democrats to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70.

Flores said, “I’d have to look at what the actual economics are. I’m not philosophically opposed to raising the retirement age.”

He also said, at age 56, Social Security needs to be shored up financially or “there’s not going to be anything there by the time I reach [retirement age]. And I accept the fact I may have to raise my retirement age for that.”

Edwards said he would not vote to raise the retirement age to 70, saying “there’s just too many Americans who work hard all their lives and simply, physically couldn’t work until” then.

“I don’t know what kind of limbo we would leave those people in,” Edwards said.