EUCLID, Ohio — Ohio State Auditor Dave Yost took a shot at President Barack Obama for claiming credit for the killing of Osama Bin Laden in a rambling introduction of Mitt Romney at a town hall.
Yost said Obama claiming credit for the raid is like "giving Ronald McDonald credit for the Big Mac you ate for lunch," adding that "the guy at the griddle," deserves the credit.
A Romney aide, who declined to be named, distanced the candidate from the remark, saying it doesn't represent Romney's position.
Yost also attempted an impression of Obama, then castigated the president for "lecturing" the middle class.
"I'm tired of hearing [Obama] talk about the middle class as if he knows anything about us," Yost said, before criticizing the president for taking vacations while in office.
"Anyone get three vacations in 2009 at the depths of the recession," he asked. "Anyone fly to New York just to have a date night with your spouse? I didn't think so. Mr. President, That's not middle class, and you stop lecturing us about our lives."
Romney has said himself that Obama deserves credit for the raid.
"I acknowledged a year ago when this was announced that the president deserved credit for the decision he made, and I continue to believe that and certainly would have taken that action myself," he said earlier this month in New York City.
The Obama campaign did not immediately respond to request for comment. Romney's more prominent Ohio allies were not present at the event.
Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith responded:
“Today we saw Mitt Romney’s version of leadership: standing by silently as his chief surrogate attacked the President’s family at the event and another supporter alleged that the President should be tried for treason. Time after time in this campaign, Mitt Romney has had the opportunity to show that he has the fortitude to stand up to hateful and over-the-line rhetoric and time after time, he has failed to do so. If this is the ‘leadership’ he has shown on the campaign trail, what can the American people expect of him as commander-in-chief?”