Obama Responds To Hilary Rosen Comments: 'There's No Tougher Job Than Being A Mom'

President Obama weighed in Thursday on the kerfuffle over Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen's recent comments, saying that "there's no tougher job than being a mom."

"Anybody who would argue otherwise, I think, probably needs to rethink their statement," Obama told Bruce Aune of ABC's Cedar Rapids affiliate KCRG.

On Wednesday evening, Rosen, once an employee of the Huffington Post, claimed that Ann Romney, wife of GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney, had "never worked a day in her life," referring to whether she understood women's economic struggles. The comments came amid an ongoing spat between the Obama and Romney campaigns about which candidate has the best record on women.

Ann Romney responded with her take on Thursday, painting Rosen's comment as a claim that being a mother wasn't actually "work."

"She should have come to my house when those five boys were causing trouble," said Romney, laughing, "it wasn't so easy."

Obama told KCRG that he doesn't "have a lot of patience for commentary about the spouses of political candidates" such as Ann Romney.

"I don’t know if she necessarily volunteered for this job so, you know, we don’t need to be directing comments at them," he said. "I think me and Governor Romney are going to have more than enough to argue about during the course of this campaign.”

Rosen has since apologized and called for an end to the "faux war," but that hasn't stopped the Republican National Committee from seizing on the issue with a "Moms Do Work" campaign.

"Mrs. Romney, I applaud your decision to stay home and raise what are obviously five wonderful boys. This is not about stay-at-home moms versus working moms," Rosen said on CNN.

"I think your husband needs to stand up for women's economic struggles and so far we have not seen how he's going to do that on the campaign trail," she continued. "It hasn't come out of his mouth and maybe it will at some point, but this is a distraction that his campaign is forcing on the American people to avoid his record on the issues."

While some have argued that the flareup is a non-issue, many members of the Democratic party and Obama campaign have been quick to distance themselves from Rosen's comments.

Even First Lady Michelle Obama issued a comment, apparently in response to Rosen's claim.

"Every mother works hard, and every woman deserves to be respected," she tweeted Thursday.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[fredsottile]

12:17 AM on 04/16/2012

"I think me and Governor Romney are going to have more than enough to argue about during the course of this campaign.”
Its Governor Romney and I, not ME and Governor Romney.
IDIOT!
Its not so easy without the teleprompter is it IDIOT?

[Kingsley Rowe]

08:27 PM on 04/14/2012

Well done, Mr. President. Years from now people are going to be saying wow you guys were so lucky to have a President like President Obama. History will look down with scorn on the legacy of the Republicans during the Obama Presidency. I am so lucky I had my JKF in Obama. I know what people say in the time of President Kennedy and he is the most loved president of all time after probably George Washington.

[Aviva Luria]

05:52 PM on 04/14/2012

Rosen's comments were valid and this entire kerfuffle about them has been inane. The Right does a great job, unfortunately, of pouncing on valid statements made by progressives and intentionally misconstruing them, thereby upending valid arguments and distracting the public from the real issues.

Ann Romney simply isn't a credible advocate for women's issues, and that was precisely Ms. Rosen's point.

For more, see "Whose War on Women?" on the blog "Old Mom, Young Child": http://omyc.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/whose-war-on-women/

[billy goat]

03:34 PM on 04/14/2012

Rosen should never have apologized. Her comments opened an important discussion. Ann Romney is doing her husband's bidding. Romney invoked his wife as the source of what he knows about how women are feeling. She's fair game. And, Rosen is correct, Romney, neither of um, has ever confronted the acute economic realities that are front and center for most american. Rosen is correct to make that distinction. Voters can decide whether the Romney experience helps or hurts. Can't really imagine why Obama needs to weigh in on this one. But if he can spin it to gain votes or sure up the ranks, I don't care. He just needs to be president for four more years. Thurston Howell can return to his island.

[robinchicago]

02:53 PM on 04/14/2012

Even Obama missed the point of Hillary Rosen's statement ...... How sad that is.

[ExFromTheLeft]

02:09 AM on 04/16/2012

Obama didn't miss any point, he is just trying to remove the oxygen the GOP is using to make this "faux-war" a big summer fire!!!

[ConservaYoda]

02:40 PM on 04/14/2012

It's hard not to gloat, as the Dems have their phony war on women blow up in their faces. Try to laugh it off and whitewash this all you wish, but you just lost the whole war on women faux outrage. The kicker was that incompetent Jay "Baghdad Bob" Carney stuttering and stumbling about knowing three Hilary Rosens...perhaps she was at the White House so often it only seemed that way.

[konflikt209]

01:51 AM on 04/14/2012

Hard work at home? Come on now, you know she had someone to clean and cook for her family. BOOWHOO!!! I bet being a millionaire mom is such a hard job. Try being a mom and trying to raise your kids on minimum wage. Yes being a mom is a hard job when your actually raising your kids. Having a nanny, maid and a cook with your kids in a private school is hardly work.

[Yellowcab]

11:15 PM on 04/13/2012

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis : 'If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much.'

Say what you will about millionaire mothers, Jackie called it right.

[KJLSanDiego]

11:28 PM on 04/13/2012

Jackie O was in a class far above many of these campaign trail wives!

[rachel0573]

10:33 AM on 04/14/2012

that is not the point. In this case they were discussing the issues women face economically and how Romney's politics would affect women. He keeps quoting his wife when saying he understands women's issues. Hilary Rosen was saying that Ann Romney doesn't understand what the majority of women are facing and her husband shouldn't be using her to understand them either. Most women work AND take care of their children. They are the ones who will be affected by changes in policy. Not wealthy stay at home moms.

[Yellowcab]

11:12 PM on 04/13/2012

I love comedian Bill Burr's comment about motherhood being the toughest job..."and I thought being a roofer in the summer as a red head was tough!"

Pandering Prom King strikes again.

[Diego Native 2012]

09:42 PM on 04/13/2012

Alright. In the interests of full disclosure, I have a Mother, so I may be biased, or not.

The statement that there "is no job tougher than being a Mom" is just pandering. Motherhood (Parenthood) is an extraordinarily important and woefully undervalued vocation/avocation; that's undeniable. But to say its the toughest job in the world? Come on. Tough? Yes. Toughest? I don't know about that.

I am not a Mother, but I was a single Father raising two kids and, yes, it was tough, at times. I still wouldn't trade it in for say, being a miner, or fighting forest fires, or working on an Alaskan fishing vessel.

See, the thing about being a Parent is you don't ever get a chance to stop. No vacations, no sick days...even if the kids are grown and away, you still worry, still are on call all the time. But toughest job in the world? I don't think so.

Best job in the world? I'll buy that.

[KJLSanDiego]

11:17 PM on 04/13/2012

Well said, pops.
Are you from my city?

[Diego Native 2012]

08:09 PM on 04/14/2012

yeppers

[konflikt209]

01:56 AM on 04/14/2012

Amen, alot of people want to talk about single mothers but never single fathers. These millionaire parents know nothing about raising kids but hollywood wants to tell us how to do it.

[fredsottile]

12:23 AM on 04/16/2012

Hell, people don't give credit to married father either.
Many of them do a heroic job.
Hell, the Obama White House website doesn't even have a Men's Issues page.
Let's have a President who has a son this time. We haven't had one in 16 years.

[mpilkanis]

08:01 PM on 04/13/2012

This is pandering by the President and I'm disappointed. Independents are going to be disappointed as well.

For the record, there are many jobs more difficult than "being a mom" and Obama knows this. Why he chose to say otherwise is his business but don't blow smoke up MY @ss whatever you do.

As someone already said, when prevarication is raised to the level of religion, speaking the truth becomes heresy. Thunderingly ironic since religion is, at its core, prevarication.

[Yellowcab]

11:13 PM on 04/13/2012

Yeah, but chiks dig pandering. Obama knows that better than anybody.

[Fantasiawave1]

01:34 AM on 04/14/2012

Yellowcab- Obama like Clinton are good car salesmen, tell them what they want to hear even if you are lying through your teeth. Obama lies all the time , that is what car salesmen do.

[rcott1019]

05:46 PM on 04/13/2012

I have always respected women who have chosen to be stay at home moms, but the fact is that it is a luxury many mothers cannot afford. The tacit statement by Mrs. Romney, however, implies that in order to be a good, hard working mother while staying at home qualifies her to understand the difficulties of mothers (divorced, single, as well as married) who must work a job and perform parenting duties as well. Mrs. Romney's choice contained no financial stress or sacrifice to be an at home mom, and she didn't have to worry about how many children she had, which certainly effects the many women and their reproductive choices. Had Ms. Rosen addressed the issue in a better thought out, less judgmental manner, she might have made a valid point. Instead, she chose a totally inappropriate manner of attack on Mrs. Romney. Shame on her.

[DreamWeaver2nd]

05:15 PM on 04/13/2012

Motherhood with the supporting framework of millions of dollars is a world apart from the Middle and Working class parenting. Of course. The list of substantive differences would fill volumes.

It is truly disrespectful to all the rest of American mothers to compare their responsibilities and challenges to those of millionaire parents.

[LeeResolution]

06:39 PM on 04/13/2012

nonsense.

motherhood is motherhood, whether you have wealth or not. There are a ton of kids out there with 'mad squabbles', who come from wealthy families.

[DreamWeaver2nd]

07:09 PM on 04/13/2012

Motherhood with bills to pay, including the doctor, dentist, and orthodontist, is a lot more challenging than motherhood with millions of dollars in the bank along with a gardener, nanny, housekeeper, and multiple cars to choose from in case one goes on the fritz ... etc. (This small list is only the beginning of thousands of items ...)

[KJLSanDiego]

11:19 PM on 04/13/2012

Yeah, if you have maids and nannies and you don't work, how hard can it be, really?
You have help and all the time in the world, and never have to worry about balancing books or budgeting.

[konflikt209]

02:02 AM on 04/14/2012

AMEN... Real hard working parents know what real parenthood is. Having to budget our money, worry about bills then at the same time having to teach our kids morals. Its alot more work, stress and takes alot more out of you when you dont have money,nannies and public schooling at your disposal.

[Endsieg]

04:33 PM on 04/13/2012

BHO's getting on AF One AGAIN, he is going to blow another couple million flying around...

[MissRoseNylund]

05:03 PM on 04/13/2012

Did you have the same complaint when Bush was flying all over the place on Air Force One? Especially when he spent so much time flying to his vacation home in Crawford?

[LeeResolution]

06:40 PM on 04/13/2012

Obama has outspent former president Bush nearly 5 to 1, in his use of the executive perks (including AF 1).

[konflikt209]

02:04 AM on 04/14/2012

Lets talk about obama and how many times he has been to hawaii.. He only became a president to be a celebrity not to be a leader..

[mairs]

06:36 PM on 04/13/2012

Bush kept flying from place to place on 911. People were wondering when he would come out of hiding and lead the country.

I can be meaner than you, but I choose not to. It's better to have real conversations about issues.

[Endsieg]

04:32 PM on 04/13/2012

Rosen does exactly what BHO wants her to do, play the class warfare card...........

[scorpian777]

04:42 PM on 04/13/2012

Spot on!!

[DreamWeaver2nd]

05:17 PM on 04/13/2012

There is class warfare -- kochbrothersexposed.org.

[MissRoseNylund]

05:23 PM on 04/13/2012

So true. Faved & fanned.