Mitt Romney told ABC on Thursday that he was correct to criticize Obama on Tuesday night after the deadly attack in Libya, because the White House disavowed the same statement by the American embassy in Cairo that sparked his response.
“What I said was exactly the same conclusion the White House reached, which was that the statement was inappropriate. That’s why they backed away from it as well,” Romney said.
But the statement itself had little to do with the fallout over Romney’s response, which inaccurately suggested the embassy’s statement came after the attacks in Egypt and Libya. Romney claimed Tuesday that it showed Obama’s “first response” was to “sympathize” with their attackers. The timing of the statement aside, interviewer George Stephanopolous also noted to Romney that the White House never said they thought that the embassy statement had shown “sympathy” for militants.
“Well, I think the statement was an inappropriate statement,” Romney said. “I think it was not directly applicable and appropriate for the setting. I think it should have been taken down. And apparently the White House felt the same way,”
