Romney slams Obama's "bumps in the road" remark on the campaign trail

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney thanks supporters at the end of a campaign rally September 24, 2012 at Pueblo Memorial Airport in Pueblo, Colorado September 24, 2012.

/ MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GettyImages

(CBS News) PUEBLO, Colo. - Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Monday attacked President Obama for referring to ongoing unrest in Middle East as "bumps in the road," and said that as president, he "will shape events" in the region.

Speaking to a crowd of more than 1,500 people in this town in southern Colorado, Romney said, "This is a time for a president who will shape events in the Middle East, not just be merciful or be at the mercy of the events of the Middle East. I will get America on track to have the kind of leadership we need so we can shape the future of this part of the world and keep America strong."

Romney offered no specifics about how he would shape events in the historically volatile and war-prone region. While he has largely tried to keep his focus on the economy and high unemployment numbers, Romney took the opportunity to go on the offensive on foreign policy after Mr. Obama was asked in a "60 Minutes" interview on Sunday about the pro-democracy uprisings in the Arab world that have led to creation of governments with ties to extremist Islamic groups.

Romney: Middle East tumult "hardly" a bump in the road

Obama said on the CBS News program, "I think it was absolutely the right thing for us to do to align ourselves with democracy, universal rights, a notion that people have to be able to participate in their own governance. But I was pretty certain, and continue to be pretty certain, that there are going to be bumps in the road because in a lot of these places, the one organizing principle has been Islam."

Romney pounced on the president's use of the phrase "bumps in the road," suggesting that Mr. Obama was in effect minimizing the recent killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, the popular uprisings in Syria that have killed over 20,000 and the election of a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

"The world looks at the event going on, they don't see these events as bumps in the road," he told the crowd at an aircraft museum. "These are lives. This is humanity. This is freedom. Freedom must be on the march. We must stand for freedom."

Romney had a similar response in an interview with CBS News' chief political correspondent Jan Crawford on Monday.

The Obama campaign was quick to strike back, with one campaign official pointing out that the president made no mention of Libya or the American ambassador's death in his comments.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement, "He's purposely misinterpreting the president's words and making reckless statements about the death of four Americans in Libya, apparently for the sole purpose of his own political gain. Using this incident to launch political attacks should be beneath someone seeking to be our nation's commander-in-chief."

[JohnKrats]

Obamalogic:

The firestorm sweeping the Middle East that is led by Islamic extremists and terrorists are bumps in the road.

The same should be said of the terrorist Hitler's rise to power in the 1930's.

[knewsreply]

What poor timing for an attack on the President. The day before he represents the USA before the UN. The tapes of JKF shows how calm he was during the Cuban Missile Crises. Romney seems to have poor timing on his international comments and not able to be calm and subjective in time of attacks on America. Romney's actions are concern me.

[HopeforAmerica]

Wow.. Romney. That's a Stretch! Romney is SO Desperate that he takes Nothing and tries to turn into something. Unfortunately, there are stupid, low information voters who actually believe Romney.

[holloway1956]

You call 4 dead Americans NOTHING, you are as bad as Obama.

[dd7979]

Our US Ambassador in Libya dead body is dragged through the streets by an angry mob, the first Ambassador killed by hostiles since 1979 and Obama calls that a 'bump in a road'.

Obama does not have America's best interest at heart and his primary concern is toward is fellow Muslims.

[RollotheNorman]

Hey Willard, you inadequacies in foreign policy are already well known, so why not give us some real information we can use? Like the last 20 years of returns, the real returns, not an accounted cooked "summary." And while you are at it explain something else to me, if you would be so kind. The people that got into private equity at about the same time Bain was founded are all Billionaires. You only claim about 250M. Really? Is there a lot more money stashed in those Swiss and Cayman accounts than you're telling? Where's the rest of the loot Willard?

[holloway1956]

Why are you idiots so focused on tax returns? I guess you know that Obama was not a millionaire until he was elected President. As far as Romney's tax returns, your not going to vote for him anyways so why don't you go vote for Obama, the President who is running on his great record, oh wait he can't do that, he doesn't have a record to run on. Maybe Obama can explain why and how 4 Americans in Libya was killed, including an Ambassador, in a terror attack. Those 4 deaths lays right at Obama's feet.

[sjc_1]

I remember Rumsfeld talking about a "bump in the road" that was MUCH more serious than this, but nobody in the GOP said anything about that at the time.

[sjc_1]

MSNBC did a segment on Romney's contradictions over the years. He called people going to the emergency room "socialism" but later said he was for "universal care" but now he wants to repeal ACA and replace it with nothing, which will get us back to emergency rooms.

I think Mitt is more than a brick shy of a load. He says things for effect, then does not accept the consequences for saying them. That is not a responsible leader, it is a politician that wants to win because he wants the office for his biography.

[holloway1956]

Anybody that watches MSNBC is more then a brick shy of s load.

[nearl451]

The more I hear of the Romney lines of attack, the more I think of doingcleverly hinted crossword puzzles and trick numerical word problems.

They are are clever word games that have no impact on anything real, but are fun to ponder while your taking careof your morning business.

[nearl451]

I'm trying to figure out what besides "Israel Uber alles" is Romney's Middle East or forieng policy philosophy.

From his inference, it seems to be allabout picking "strong men" and stickingby them militarily, no matter what. The people cannot be trusted to attempt democracy, apparently. Of course this is what wrought such distasters eventually in Iraq, Iran, northern Africa, not to mention SA and CA in the decades past.

Heck, maybe we should just go back to feudal systems. Common folk have no business electing people- seems to be what he is suggesting by "Leadership".

[marzxyz]

Will Romney promise to cpature or kill Osama bin Laden too. Oh I forgot. That was Obama.

[TheDuceCat]

It wasn't the US Intelligence teams. It wasn't the Navy SEALs. It was Barrack Obama himself. They flew him in by helicopter at night and he personally shot Bin Laden.

[retmw1]

TheDueceCat

And who gave them the orders, or do you think they just did it on they're own. Guess they just go out and kill anyone one they want whenever they want.