President Barack Obama's hot-mic moment with French President Nicolas Sarkozy was more embarrassing for the latter than the former, with the French president calling Benjamin Netanyahu a "liar" and Obama only complaining about his daily dealings with the man.
Sarkozy did not realize his microphone was on Thursday at the G-20 summit in Cannes, France. "I cannot stand him," Sarkozy was reported as saying about Netanyahu. "He is a liar." Obama responded, "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!"
But the problems it posed for Obama on the domestic policy front were immediately evident -- a president who has worked hard to curtail the perception that he was too critical of Israel had been caught being critical of its prime minister.
And, sure enough, on Wednesday, Mitt Romney took a swipe, accusing the president of being "disdainful of [the] U.S.-Israel Relationship."
"President Obama's derisive remarks about Israel's Prime Minister confirm what any observer would have gleaned from his public statements and actions toward our longstanding ally, Israel," Romney said.
"At a moment when the Jewish state is isolated and under threat, we cannot have an American president who is disdainful of our special relationship with Israel. We have here yet another reason why we need new leadership in the White House."
