Bill Clinton says he's "not taking the bait" after Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said in a radio interview Friday that the former president was abusing the truth in his quest to promote his wife's presidential campaign.

The former president has been under increasing scrutiny for his tireless role in Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign and has drawn protest from rival candidate Sen. Barack Obama -- but Bill Clinton pledged restraint Saturday in Spartanburg, S.C., as voters headed to the polls in the state's Democratic primary.

"I am not taking the bait today," Clinton said when asked about Kerry's remarks. "I did what I could to help Sen. Kerry every time he needed me and every time he asked me. ... He can support whomever he wants for whatever reason he wants, but there is nothing for me to respond to."

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, has endorsed Obama and was asked on National Journal radio about the recent campaign-trail bickering between the Clintons and Obama.

"I think you had an abuse of the truth, is what happened," Kerry said. "I mean, being an ex-president does not give you license to abuse the truth, and I think that over the last days it's been over the top. Things have been said about Barack Obama's positions that are just plain untrue."

Hillary Clinton has already indicated she wants her husband to tone it down.

On Friday, she told the CBS Early Show, "You know he gets excited; he gets really passionate making the case for me. He said several times yesterday that maybe he got a little carried away, so we are all going to on both sides, I think, try to bring this debate back to the issues that are most important."