FNC anchor Shepard Smith issued a clarification last night from the John McCain camp following the GOP presidential candidate's town hall meeting aired live, exclusively on Fox News.

"I reported at the top of this hour that the campaign had told us at Fox News that the audience would be made up of Republicans, Democrats, and independents," he said. "We have now received a clarification from the campaign and I feel I should pass it along to you. The McCain campaign distributed tickets to supporters, Mayor Bloomberg, who of course is a registered Republican, and other independent groups." (Smith later clarified that Bloomberg is an independent.)

Earlier in the broadcast, Smith said, although the McCain camp chose the audience, "We're told it includes Republicans, Democrats and Independents. They'll ask the questions, and the McCain camp tells us those questions have not been and will not be screened in advance."

Smith also reiterated what FNC EP of news and special events Thom Bird told TVNewser yesterday: the Barack Obama campaign is considering a similar offer from FNC for his own town hall.