Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says high school students who appear to be giving a Nazi salute in a photo are “a bunch of idiots.”

Walker was asked Thursday about the photo of Baraboo high school students that circulated earlier this week.

The photo of about 60 boys was taken outside the Sauk County Courthouse in Baraboo last spring. About two-thirds of the boys have their right arms raised in what appears to be a Nazi salute.

The parent who took the photo says he was simply asking the teens to wave goodbye to their parents before they headed to prom.

But Walker says, “I think they’re just stupid. I think they’re idiots. It’s as simple as that. I don’t know that it’s any more complicated than that, they’re just a bunch of idiots.”

Meanwhile, Baraboo Superintendent Lori Mueller said in a letter to parents Wednesday that the district is planning a community program with civic, community and faith leaders. Mueller says details will be “shared as soon as possible.”

Mueller says, “We are so sorry that the actions of some of our students so understandably and deeply hurt people around the world.”

(AP)