Stephanie Cutter is President Obama’s deputy campaign manager. On CNN today, she said this:
CUTTER: The entire reason this has become the political topic it is, is because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.
A few minutes later, she doubled down.
From the time of the attack in Libya, Mitt Romney has stopped at nothing to politicize these events. While Mitt Romney, Congressman Ryan, and their Republican allies in Congress have turned a national tragedy into a political circus, the President has been focused on getting the facts, finding the terrorists responsible, and bringing them to justice. Our nation’s security and how we handle the transitions in the Middle East and North Africa are critical issues in this campaign, and just 26 days before an election, the American people deserve real ideas and specifics from Mitt Romney.
Don’t we deserve facts from the sitting president, who accused Romney of “firing first and aiming later” before engaging in a disinformation campaign against the American people?
Stephanie Cutter ought be fired immediately. She won’t be, which will reinforce the case against this administration’s credibility on, well, pretty much everything.
More: Obama for America triples down.
Update: Cutter’s remark was evidently a planned strike, and as one tweep suggested, a go-sign for the MSM to now hound Romney and Ryan on Libya to distract from the ongoing examination of what happened. Her remark and the strategy itself are also revealing: The Obama campaign really sees Benghazi as merely a political issue, not a national security or truth issue.
Some things are bigger than politics. Unless you work for Barack Obama.
Update: The Romney campaign responds–
Andrea Saul,Romney Campaign National Press Secretary, made the following statement in response to the Obama campaign’s comments on the terrorist attack in Libya:
“President Obama’s campaign today said that Libya is only an issue because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. They’re wrong. The reason it is an issue is because, for the first time since 1979, an American ambassador was assassinated and President Obama’s foreign policy strategy of ‘leading from behind’ is failing. This administration has continually misled the American public about what happened in Benghazi and, rather than be truthful about the sequence of events, has instead skirted responsibility and dodged questions. The American people deserve straight answers about this tragic event and a president who can provide leadership, not excuses.”
Update: CBS News says Cutter is wrong.
CBS is right. Romney/Ryan said that they were not going to make Benghazi an issue on the campaign trail, preferring to let Congress take the lead. I didn’t think much of that strategy at the time, but so far it has been vindicated. Cutter lying about it just adds to the mix now. Will media continue to note when she isn’t telling the truth? That could quickly become a full-time job.
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