As criticism mounts over the United States’ meager presence in France this past weekend, the White House admitted Monday that it had erred in not sending a higher-level representative to the mega rally in Paris against Islamic terrorism on Sunday. 

“We should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there,” Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.  

But, he noted, planning for the rally began on short notice and that the personal attendance of President Barack Obama, given the security challenges, would have had too much of a “significant impact” on the march. 

Claiming they only had 36 hours to prepare, Earnest suggested the large-scale outdoor event posed security risks. 

However, he added that the US stands “four-square behind our allies in France.” 

Sunday’s rally drew more than a million people as well as 40 world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. 

While the administration dispatched Attorney General Eric Holder and a top homeland security official to Paris for meetings over the weekend, Ambassador Jane Hartley was the only US official of note on hand at the rally. 

The White House gave no reason for why Holder did not not attend the rally, saying only that he or some other top official should have been present. 

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Paris claimed Holder did not attend the march because he was “not available at the time.” A Justice Department spokesman said Holder needed to return to Washington that afternoon, but was “proud” to have joined world leaders at the summit before the rally. 

Amid the criticism, Secretary of State John Kerry, who is traveling on official business in India, rearranged his schedule so as to visit Paris later in the week.

“I would have personally very much wanted to have been [in Paris],” Kerry said, “but couldn’t do so because of the commitment that I had here and it is important to keep these kinds of commitments.” 

When asked about the criticism being directed toward the Obama administration, Kerry argued, “I really think that this is sort of quibbling a little bit in the sense that our Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was there and marched, our ambassador was there and marched, many people from the embassy were there and marched.”