Senior adviser to President Obama David Axelrod said Sunday on ABC This Week that Republican criticisms of the President highlighting the successful killing of Osama bin Laden are cynical. “Well, first of all, the president hasn’t been spiking the ball. This was the one-year anniversary. It’s part of his record. And it’s certainly a legitimate part of his record to talk about,” Axelrod said.
Look, the president in the last campaign said that he would go wherever he had to, to hit high-value Al Qaida targets, including Osama bin Laden. One of the first things he did when he got here into the presidency was order the CIA to make this a top priority. That’s one of the reasons — that’s the main reason why we were able to be in a position to find bin Laden.
And then he ordered a mission that was — was, frankly, risky, dangerous. Bob Gates said it was one of the most courageous, one of the gutsiest decisions he saw — he’s ever seen a president make. And it turned out successfully.
And let me tell you something, Jake. If it hadn’t, you’d better believe the other side would be talking about it, and Mitt Romney would be the first one.
