Obama: Controversial comments part of ‘casual conversation with reporter’

{mosads}”You know, this was a conversation after an interview, a casual
conversation with a reporter,” he said during an interview with
Colorado’s 9 News.

Obama drew fire from conservatives after Rolling Stone published an
interview in which he explained his support among kids as a result of
their “good instincts.”

“[Kids] look at the other guy and say, ‘Well, that’s a bull****ter, I
can tell,'” he said, according to the interview.

Obama didn’t disavow his comments. Instead, he pivoted to a discussion
of “a major issue” in the election, which he said is the question of
whether you can trust a candidate to stick to their convictions.

“The basic point that I’ve been talking about throughout this campaign
is, people know what I mean and they know that I mean what I say and
what I care about, who I’m fighting for. And, you know, a major issue
in any election is, can you count on the person you’re putting into
the Oval Office fighting for you having a clear set of convictions
that they believe in?” he said.

The President also said during the interview that he hasn’t shared
further details on the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi
because he wants to “make sure we get it right,” and pledged to
continue the investigation into the attacks.

Obama has been criticized for his handling of the attacks, and recent
reports indicate the CIA may have denied requests for help at the
embassy.

Obama said that everyone involved “had number one priority making sure
that those people were safe,” and pledged to identify who carried out
the attacks.

“We’re going to gather all the facts, find out exactly what happened,
and make sure that it doesn’t happen again but we’re also going to
make sure that we bring to justice those who carried out these
attacks,” he said.