White House Press Secretary Jay Carney dismissed a rebuke of Joe Biden offered by former Gov. Doug Wilder, D-Va., in response to Biden’s “chains” comment.

Wilder, the first black governor elected in the country, faulted Biden for saying “they’re going to put y’all back in chains” during a recent campaign stop. “Slavery is nothing to joke about!” Wilder said yesterday.

Carney does not think that should be taken seriously. “He doesn’t have a point,” Carney said of Wilder’s remarks. “The vice president was talking about Wall Street reform.” He added that, when speaking in public, “there is always the possibility that something you say and the way you say it can be misunderstood or taken out of context and made a big deal of,” Carney said.

Asked again about Wilder taking offense to the “chains” remark, Carney said that was one man’s “opinion.”