WH: Claim Obama avoided soldiers ‘ridiculous’

President Obama’s White House spokesman dismissed as “ridiculous” a report that the president complained about having to take pictures with troops in Iraq when he visited as a presidential candidate, saying that Obama enjoys spending time with soldiers more than anything.

“Anonymous, unnamed, single sources saying something ridiculous like that, I wouldn’t put too much credibility in,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters today. He said that “there is nothing [Obama] would rather do than spend time with the men and women in the military.”

Michael Hastings recounted in his book, The Operators, that then-Senator Obama complained about having to take so many photos with soldiers deployed in Iraq.

He didn’t want to take pictures with any more soldiers; he was complaining about it,” a State Department official tells me. “Look, I was excited to meet him. I wanted to like him. Let’s just say the scales fell from my eyes.”

You can read more of that passage, courtesy of Buzzfeed.

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