Obama rejects Benghazi criticism

Associated Press

NEW YORK

President Barack Obama on Thursday rejected criticism that his administration has offered a confused response to the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, an accusation made repeatedly by Republican challenger Mitt Romney in their campaign for the White House. Of any breakdown that might have led to the killing of four Americans, Obama declared: “We’re going to fix it.”

On a campaign day where the politics of comedy were to flavor the presidential race, Comedy Central host Jon Stewart got serious in pressing Obama over the government’s changing explanation about the Sept. 11 attacks in Benghazi. When Stewart suggested that even Obama would concede his administration’s coordination and communication had not been “optimal,” Obama said: “If four Americans get killed, it’s not optimal. We’re going to fix it. All of it.”

Romney has pointedly questioned Obama’s handling of the matter and his honesty about it to voters. Those accusations led to the fiercest conflict of the presidential debate Tuesday and surely will come to the fore again Monday in the campaign’s final debate.

Appearing in a taping of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” Obama insisted information was shared with the American people as it came in. The attack is under investigation, Obama said, and “the picture eventually gets filled in.”