White House: No regrets over Obama’s open-mic comments
They weren’t meant for public consumption, but the White House said that President Obama stands by the candid critique of Republicans that he offered to Democratic donors Thursday night.
Those comments were mistakenly fed back to the White House press briefing room, simply a “miscommunication,” according to press secretary Jay Carney, who said that the president does not apologize for his comments.
“What he said in that session you’re talking about and the things he’s said in more public forums have been entirely consistent,” Carney told reporters as they returned with the president from Chicago aboard Air Force One. “That was meant to be a closed-press event. He was taking questions from supporters. But there’s nothing -- nothing he said that contradicts anything he said in public.”
In the informal chat at a Chicago restaurant, Obama discussed negotiations with Republicans on the 2011 budget, accusing the party of “nickel-and-diming me” as they pushed for more concessions on health care, for instance.
“You think we’re stupid?” he said.
Obama also referred to outdated White House phone systems, and said some government workers are “slugs and not trying to do their job.”
Christi Parsons contributed to this report
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