The Hill News

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R) took a cue from veteran film star Sylvester Stallone Wednesday when he tweeted: "Stallone is right. US does apologize too much."

The quote referred to a comment Stallone had made Aug. 19 to Bill O'Reilly while promoting his new film The Expendables in an appearance on Fox News.

O'Reilly opened the segment by referring to a Los Angeles Times review arguing that the film taps a vein of "apple-pie patriotism ... [that is already] behind the success of a cable news network," taken to mean Fox.  

Stallone denied that the film, which he directed, has any intended subtext at all.

"Some people read [into it] that I was maybe putting the focal point on the American intrusion into other countries. You know, 'we tend to overstep our boundaries.' I don't believe that at all."

"I think American apologizes too much," he added quickly as O'Reilly began to reply.

When O'Reilly jokingly asked whether Stallone had a "secret agenda" in making the movie, Stallone laughed. 

"I wish I was that clever. It's pretty simple -- pretty straightforward. 'You're bad, you gotta go.'"

He went on: "It's like reading into some kind of metaphor, or some kind of symbolism, or some kind of hidden message … no, there's nothing jingoistic. It's just guys going in there, blowing things up, and having a good old time."

The remark that "Americans apologize too much" has gained attention since last week, especially from the conservative media, where it went viral.

"Hope he [Stallone] doesn't get in trouble with Hollywood friends," Romney added in his tweet.

The Expendables was number one at the box office last weekend, grossing $16.5 million for a total of approximately $65 million in earnings so far.