Boehner: Obama has 'checked out,' Romney tax issue a 'sideshow'

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) hammered President Obama for the second straight day, arguing the president has prioritized his campaign over middle-class Americans.

"The president checked out last Labor Day. And he's been on the campaign trail nonstop ever since," Boehner told CNN.

The Ohio lawmaker also defended some of his most harsh rhetoric recently directed at the president, including his statement to reporters on Wednesday that Obama "doesn't give a damn about the middle-class Americans who are out there looking for work."

"When you look at some of the nonsense that's gone on in the campaign here over the last couple of weeks, you begin to scratch your head," Boehner explained Thursday. "Somebody has got to speak English. And I'm not afraid to do it."

The House Speaker did allow for some discussion of the hot-button issues on the campaign trail, however, including calling recent calls for Mitt Romney to release more tax returns a distraction.

"I think it's a sideshow. He released his returns from 2010. He's going to release his returns from 2011. I think that's more than enough," Boehner said.

The House Speaker also said he had not been — nor did he expect to be — consulted about Romney's vice presidential choice.

"He's got to keep this in a very closed circle. And I don't expect to be consulted. I don't need to be consulted," Boehner said.

But despite admitting he doesn't "spend a lot of time talking" to the presumptive Republican nominee, Boehner said Thursday he was excited about Romney's candidacy.

"The American people, I think, will vote with their wallets," Boehner said. "And I think Mitt Romney is going to win this election."

The House Speaker also again addressed a controversial letter signed by members of his caucus — including Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — calling for an investigation of Islamic extremists infiltrating the federal government. The letter targets a top aide of Hillary Clinton, arguing tenuous links between her family members at a radical Islamic group.

The letter has drawn scorn on both sides of the aisle, with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasting the effort in a floor speech Wednesday. In the interview Thursday, Boehner said the Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, had a "sterling character," and called Bachmann's letter "dangerous.

"Frankly, there are enough legitimate issues that we need to work with here in town, here in Washington, that I just am very concerned about the direction that this thing takes," Boehner said.

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