Phil Gramm, a top adviser to Sen. John McCain, on Thursday stood by his comment that the country is in a “mental recession,” and said he was trying to say the nation’s leaders, not its people, were “whiners.”

Democrats blasted Gramm, who advises presumed Republican nominee McCain on economic matters, for saying Americans who have named the economy as a top concern this campaign cycle were “a nation of whiners.”

McCain forcefully repudiated the remarks while campaigning in Michigan, which has the highest unemployment rate in the nation.

The comments came in a Washington Times interview published Thursday.

“We have sort of become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline,” said the former Texas senator. “You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession.”

Gramm also said the media was responsible for fostering unnecessary anxiety over the state of the economy. “Misery sells newspapers,” he said. “Thank God the economy is not as bad as you read in the newspaper every day.”