Reports that the former bodybuilder had groped women and once said he admired the Nazi leader surfaced Thursday as he set out on a four-day bus tour toward Sacramento. His entourage was met by cheering crowds as he promised to move California forward but by then, the focus had shifted to his past.

Stories by ABC News and The New York Times said that the actor told an interviewer during the filming of the bodybuilding documentary "Pumping Iron" in 1975 that he admired Adolf Hitler's rise to power from humble beginnings.

Schwarzenegger, with wife Maria Shriver at his side, told a late-night news conference Thursday that he didn't recall making the remarks.

"I don't remember any of those comments because I always despise everything that Hitler stood for," Schwarzenegger said, calling the Nazi leader a "disgusting villain."

Earlier in the day in San Diego, Schwarzenegger addressed allegations in the Los Angeles Times, which reported the claims of six women who accused him of sexually harassing and groping them between 1975 and 2000.

"Yes, it is true that I was on rowdy movie sets and I have done things that were not right, which I thought then was playful but now I recognize that I offended people," he said.

"Those people that I have offended, I want to say to them I am deeply sorry about that and I apologize because that's not what I'm trying to do," he added.

Asked about the groping allegations, Shriver referred her husband's remarks: "As I say to my children it always takes great courage to stand before anybody and apologize and I think that's what Arnold did today," Shriver said.

Polls have shown voters ready to oust Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in the Oct. 7 recall election, with Schwarzenegger as the front-runner to replace him.

Davis declined to discuss the issue, saying, "The voters will determine how significant that story is. I'm confident the voters will decide who is best qualified to lead this state."

Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who is running second to Schwarzenegger as a replacement candidate, said the allegations are "very serious and should be resolved."