Obama Says "Bullshitter," Shocks America

An American magazine claimed on Thursday that President Obama had described his rival, Mitt Romney, in less than friendly terms during an interview. The White House called for journalists not to get distracted by one word.

The White House communications director, Dan Pfeiffer, refused to deny on Thursday that Barack Obama used the word “bullshitter,” or someone who says stupid or untrue things, in the interview with the periodical Rolling Stone. Mr. Pfeiffer went on to state his hope that the media does not get “distracted” by the expression, and claimed that “Trust is a very important part of the election.”

The exchange took place at the end of an interview at the White House between Barack Obama and journalists from Rolling Stone. One of the journalists revealed that his six year-old daughter had asked him to tell the president “You can do it,” apparently in reference to the upcoming election.

“That’s all the advice I need,” responded Obama, “I do very well, by the way, in that demographic. Ages six to twelve? I’m a killer!” He added: “You know, kids have good instincts. They look at the other guy and say, ‘well, that’s a bullshitter, I can tell.’”

The alleged use of this term by a politician, and especially an incumbent president, is rare in the U.S., where the media regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, comes down hard on swear words on the television and radio. Mitt Romney’s team did not immediately respond to the revelation.

The three televised debates between Obama and Romney, on October 3, 16 and 22, manifested a clear hostility between the two candidates, which Obama played down in an interview with the network NBC on Wednesday. Nonetheless, the president conceded that: “I don’t think anybody would say while you were in the middle of a campaign, you felt deep affection for the other guy …”