President Obama said Monday that he isn't too worried about two groups of military veterans running campaign ads against him.
Last week, two groups — Special Operations Speaks and Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund - formed to criticize Obama on national security policy, the Osama bin Laden raid and intelligence leaks.
“I don’t take these folks too seriously. One of their members is a birther who denies I was born here, despite evidence to the contrary," Obama told The Virginian-Pilot. "You’ve got another who was a tea party candidate in a recent election."
"This kind of stuff springs up before election time," Obama said.
The founder of one group, ex-Navy SEAL Larry Bailey, told Foreign Policy magazine last week: "I have to admit that I'm a birther."
In another interview with a Virginia TV station, Obama attacked the latest OPSEC film that accused him of leaking too many details about the bin Laden raid. That group maintains that it is nonpartisan, but its founder Scott Taylor is a former GOP candidate for office.
"My attitude towards leaks and disclosure of our military operations has been to crack down on it," Obama said in an interview with WVEC.
"I've been criticized by some for being too vigorous in going after folks who leak information that impacts our national security. I don't have a lot of tolerance for it," Obama said.
Last week, the Obama campaign also got Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) — himself the victim of a group of military veterans during his 2004 presidential run — to denounce the attacks in a mass email. "I honor and appreciate the service of my fellow veterans, but a false attack is a false attack -- no matter who's making it," Kerry wrote.
