Rep. Dennis Kucinich showed up in Syria this week and held a press conference in which he appeared to praise embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — who is ruthlessly crushing opposition to his government — as “highly loved and appreciated by the Syrians.”

But the Ohio Democrat released a statement Tuesday saying he was misquoted by Syrian media.

Kucinich was originally spotted in Damascus by CNN correspondent Hala Gorani, who tweeted Monday that she had bumped into the eight-term congressman. “Ran into Dennis Kucinich in another hotel,” she wrote, also noting that Kucinich met with Assad for three hours.

State Department spokeswoman Megan Mattson said Kucinich visited Syria at the invitation of its government, and was not there as an official U.S. government representative. Kucinich’s press spokesman did not respond to inquiries on what Kucinich discussed with Assad or who financed Kucinich’s visit.

Syrian state media quoted Kucinich as saying during the press conference, “President Bashar al-Assad cares so much about what is taking place in Syria, which is evident in his effort towards a new Syria and everybody who meets him can be certain of this.”

Kucinich, who was in Syria along with a small delegation that included his wife, released a statement Tuesday alleging that Syrian media had mischaracterized the statements he made in Damascus.

“A story written about my remarks by the Syrian Arab News Agency unfortunately mistranslated several of my statements and did not reflect my direct quotes. Arab-speaking friends accompanying me have explained that the problem may have come from a mistranslation as well as the degree of appreciation and affection their state-sponsored media has for President Assad,” Kucinich said in the statement.

However, the Ohio Congressman did not rush to blame Syrian state-run media, saying in the same statement that the mistranslations were “unfortunate [but] … not a willful intent to mischaracterize my statements or my efforts in the region.”

This is not the first time Kucinich has voiced support for the Assad regime. He met with Assad for two hours in 2007 to discuss an Iraq peace plan. And in an interview last month, Kucinich refused to blame the regime for violence in Syria.

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