Sununu: ‘I wish this president would learn how to be an American’

Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu said Tuesday he wished President Obama “would learn how to be an American” and called the Obama campaign “a bunch of liars” for running an ad that suggested GOP nominee Mitt Romney may not have paid all of his taxes.

The comments came on a conference call hosted by the Romney campaign that featured several small business owners seconding the campaign’s line of attack on the president’s purported “pay to play” economic policies.

Mr. Sununu cited a statement the president made in Roanoke on Friday that successful people and businesses receive help somewhere along the line.

“The president clearly demonstrated that he has absolutely no idea how the economy functions,” he said. “I wish this president would learn how to be an American.”

Mr. Sununu later clarified his comments, saying that “the president has to learn the American formula for creating business” and “creating a climate in which entrepreneurs can thrive.”

As for an Obama ad released Tuesday suggesting that Mr. Romney may not have paid all of his taxes because of his refusal to release more of his returns?

“By definition, in running that ad, the Obama campaign has clearly demonstrated that they are clearly and unequivocally a bunch of liars,” the plainspoken Mr. Sununu, a former White House chief of staff under President George H.W. Bush, said.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith responded by saying that the Romney campaign “has officially gone off the deep end.”

“The question is what else they’ll pull to avoid answering serious questions about Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital and investments in foreign tax havens and offshore accounts,” she said. “This meltdown and over-the-top rhetoric won’t make things better. It only calls attention to how desperate they are to change the conversation.”

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