Speaking at his first press conference after the sweeping Republican midterm election victories, President Obama told reporters the first he heard that the elections were even taking place was when he was told Wednesday morning about media coverage of the results.
“Let me be clear,” Obama said. “I was not informed about these elections. But I’m going to have the situation looked into by my staff.”
Challenged by a reporter who said the president had clearly been involved in campaigning, Obama said he had been doing routine fundraising and hadn’t known that the candidates were actually running for anything.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest earlier told reporters, “We heard about these results the same way you did, from media reports. We’re looking into it, and if I have anything more for you, I’ll get back to you.”