Tales from the Trail

The White House is shrugging off candid comments by President Barack Obama about private budget talks with Republicans. The next day’s message is — no big deal.

Obama was speaking to supporters at a political fund-raiser in Chicago after reporters left the room. But a microphone was accidentally left on and the comments were piped back to the White House press room and recorded by CBS News and ABC News.

Obama said he told House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell that they should not try to “sneak” through a provision on Planned Parenthood. “‘You guys want to have this debate? We’re happy to have that debate. We will have the debate on the floor of the Senate or the floor of the House. Put it in a separate bill. We’ll call it up. And if you think you can overturn my veto, try it,’” he said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney today told reporters “it’s not a problem, not an issue.”

Is the president embarrassed about anything that he said?

Carney: “Not at all.”

Regret?

Carney: “Not at all.”

“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,” Carney said.

Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (Obama at White House after returning from Chicago)