Axelrod calls out Sen. Grassley for calling Obama 'stupid'

After a GOP senator called President Obama "stupid" in a tweet last week, the campaign's top adviser retaliated by calling the senator's tweets "foolish."

Senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod tweeted that a six-year-old must have taken over Sen. Chuck Grassley's (R-Iowa) Twitter feed due to the "foolish" tweet Grassley sent last Friday.

Heads up, Sen. Grassley. I think a 6-year-old hijacked your account and is sending out foolish Tweets just to embarrass you!

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) April 7, 2012

Grassley's original tweet referenced the controversy over the Supreme Court's upcoming decision about the constitutionality of the controversial healthcare insurance reform legislation.

Grassley, who is known for his near-inscrutable shorthand and abbreviations on Twitter, wrote that he's not "outraged" at Obama's "attack" on the Supreme Court's independent decision-making because, he explained, the American people are not as "stupid" as a certain former professor of constitutional law — a reference to Obama, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School before running for president.

Constituents askd why i am not outraged at PresO attack on supreme court independence. Bcause Am ppl r not stupid as this x prof of con law

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) April 7, 2012

A week ago, Obama said he was "confident" the Supreme Court would not strike down the individual insurance mandate included in his signature healthcare legislation, calling such a possibility “unprecedented."

Obama sought to remind conservatives that they have cautioned against "judicial activism" for years. He said striking down the controversial legislation would be an example of “a lack of judicial restraint,” in which “an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law.” 

Several GOP lawmakers — including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — called the statement a form of "intimidation" against the Supreme Court.

Obama was forced to clarify his remarks later last week.

“The point I was making is that the Supreme Court is the final say on our Constitution, and all of us have to respect it,” he said. “But it’s precisely because of that extraordinary power that the court has traditionally exercised significant restraint and deference to a duly elected legislature.”

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