House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday that President Obama was not politicizing the attacks on American embassies in the Middle East with his rebuke Wednesday night of Mitt Romney — but rather responding to an attack launched by the Republican presidential nominee.
"The questions arose because, in my opinion — Mitt Romney, from a political perspective, made some reckless statements without the facts," Hoyer said. "And as a result, reporters started asking questions about that, to which President Obama and myself just now and others are responding to."
On Wednesday, Obama accused Romney of having "a tendency to shoot first and aim later" after the Republican criticized the White House reaction to the violent protests unfolding in the Middle East.
Hoyer said he found Romney's criticism of a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo "ironic." Romney had said that the statement expressed sympathy with those who conducted the attacks, while the Obama administration has maintained that the statement was issued before the protests began in an attempt to quell tensions, and was issued by staff on the ground in Egypt.
"It is ironic that Mr. Romney, who in his response at the convention to his nomination, said one of the first things he was going to do was defense of religion, to make sure our first amendment and respect for all religions was paid attention to and was honored," Hoyer said. "Frankly, it would seem that the statement of the personnel at the embassy ... was expressing that very American principle that Mr. Romney said was so important. So I think the president's response was measured, very frankly, last night."
The House's second-ranking Democrat said he had not yet been briefed on protests at the American embassy in Yemen, but said the second day of violent protests was a reminder of the dangers abroad.
"We are reminded of the danger that our men and women, who are sent abroad to represent the United States of America, to promote democracy and freedom around the world — we know the danger to which they're exposed," Hoyer said.
