WASHINGTON – The White House acknowledged Monday that it blundered in not sending a prominent administration official to Sunday’s giant rally in Paris in support of free speech, making a rare admission of a mistake but offering little insight into how it happened.

Spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters that the White House regretted sending only the U.S. ambassador to France and an assistant secretary of state to the march, which drew more than 40 world leaders and about 1.5 million people to show support for victims of last week’s terrorist attacks.

“It’s fair to say that we should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there,” Earnest said, adding that the decision should not raise doubts that the administration stands “shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies in France.”

Critics quickly blasted the White House for leaving the U.S. underrepresented at the event.

White House officials would not describe how they decided to essentially sit the event out. The decision was not made by Obama, Earnest said, but the spokesman would not say who made the call.

Tribune News Service