The conservative super-PAC American Crossroads mocks President Obama as "President Flexible" in a spoof of Hollywood spy movies released Friday.
The Karl Rove-linked outside spending group takes Obama to task in the video, titled "Operation Hot Mic," for telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday
that he will have “more flexibility” to deal with missile defense after
the presidential election. The private conversation was caught by live microphones.
"Your mission is simple, Mr. Obama: Win one last election to gain unchecked flexibility, weaken our defenses and fundamentally transform. Dmitry will transmit the information," says a female narrator in the video.
"Starring Barack Obama as President Flexible, Dmitry Medvedev as Dr. Transmitkov, and Vladimir Putin as himself," adds a movie trailer-style voiceover.
Obama's remarks regarding NATO’s plans for missile defense in Europe came as he was attending a nuclear summit in South Korea earlier this week.
"This is my last election,” Obama said to Medvedev. “After my election, I have more flexibility."
"I will transmit this information to Vladimir," replied Medvedev, who will hand the Russian presidency over to Vladimir Putin in May.
The conversation became political fodder for Republicans, who used the open mic incident to paint Obama as insincere.
"It's amazing what we find out about this president's policies when he thinks no one is listening and it begs the question: What else doesn't Obama want us to know about before he's reelected?" Republican National Committee (RNC) spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said in a statement.
GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney also jumped on the comments.
"The American people have a right to know where else he plans to be 'flexible' in a second term,” Romney said in a statement. “Higher taxes, more spending and increased debt are all on the table as long as Barack Obama is in the White House, despite what he says publicly."
White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes responded that any negotiation on missile defense has to take into account the realities of election-year politics.
"Since 2012 is an election year in both countries, with an election and leadership transition in Russia and an election in the United States, it is clearly not a year in which we are going to achieve a breakthrough," Rhodes said in a statement.
