Maria Shriver was still smarting yesterday over the curt retort by presidential candidate John McCain when she asked him how he felt as he prepared to concede the California primary to rival George W. Bush Tuesday night.

"Please get out of here," he replied testily, a remark that was caught on camera by MSNBC.

Said Shriver moments later, "All I did was ask ... I doubt I'll be speaking to him again in the future."

She told today's (Thursday) Washington Post: "I was doing my job. And I did what any other reporter would do."

A McCain spokesperson said that the candidate was simply reacting to his 9-year-old daughter being jostled by Shriver's camera crew, a claim that MSNBC later denied.