John Boehner Defends Barack Obama Against Mitt Romney Attack

House Speaker John Boehner defended President Barack Obama on Tuesday against recent comments made by Mitt Romney.

Romney criticized Obama on Monday, after the president's hot mic gaffe with outgoing Russian President Dimitri Medvedev in which he was overheard saying that he would have "more flexibility" on missile defense after his reelection. The GOP presidential candidate told CNN that Russia is "without question our number one geopolitical foe."

Boehner was asked Tuesday if he agrees with Romney’s assessment. Although Boehner did not address the question directly he took the opportunity to show a bit of loyalty to the president, as Huff Post's Michael McAuliff reports:

Well, clearly, the president is overseas, he's at a conference, and, you know, while the president's overseas, I think it's appropriate that -- that people not be critical of him or of our country. And clearly, what's gone on in Russia over the last couple of years raises some concerns. So I gave a speech last year outlining my concerns about what the Russians are up to and, frankly, laying out what I would call a different path for how we engage them.

Medvedev responded Tuesday to Romney, saying that "we are in 2012 and not the mid-1970s."

Boehner has not endorsed a candidate for the GOP nomination, although many of his colleagues have endorsed Romney. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have backed the former Massachusetts governor.