Politiquotes of the Week: Nov. 18

GOP politicians misinterpret Obama’s words and deeds.

Barack Obama - "We've been a little bit lazy over the last couple of decades," said President Obama at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Hawaii earlier in the week. "We've kind of taken for granted -- 'Well, people would want to come here' -- and we aren't out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new businesses into America." Republican rivals are jumping all over the statement, accusing Obama of calling Americans lazy.

1 / 9

Barack Obama - "We've been a little bit lazy over the last couple of decades," said President Obama at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Hawaii earlier in the week. "We've kind of taken for granted -- 'Well, people would want to come here' -- and we aren't out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new businesses into America." Republican rivals are jumping all over the statement, accusing Obama of calling Americans lazy.

Rep. Michele Bachmann - In an effort to regain some of the steam that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has siphoned away from Rep. Michele Bachman’s campaign, Keep Conservatives United, a super PAC supporting the Minnesota lawmaker, has launched a radio ad campaign attacking Perry on his immigration policies. “Michele Bachmann believes employers should be required to check the legal status of people they hire with E-Verify,” the ad says. “Perry doesn’t, so illegals take jobs.”(Photo: AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

2 / 9

Michele Bachmann - “Everything now is about his re-election. I think that’s the lowest of low for a commander in chief to make military decisions based on his political re-election calculus,” said Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann about Obama’s plans to withdraw troops from Iraq at the end of the year during an interview with the DesMoines Register editorial board.(Photo: AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Herman Cain - “How do you say ‘delicious’ in Cuban?” asked Herman Cain while enjoying a snack during a campaign stop in Miami. Cuban is not a language. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

3 / 9

Herman Cain - “How do you say ‘delicious’ in Cuban?” asked Herman Cain while enjoying a snack during a campaign stop in Miami. Cuban is not a language. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Allen West - “The media needs to call out this president and stop coming over here to the House Republicans and telling us what we’re not doing. We’re the ones taking action. The guy sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is destroying this country,” said Rep. Allen West (R-Florida) at a Capitol Hill news conference in support of a pipeline project.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

4 / 9

Allen West - “The media needs to call out this president and stop coming over here to the House Republicans and telling us what we’re not doing. We’re the ones taking action. The guy sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is destroying this country,” said Rep. Allen West (R-Florida) at a Capitol Hill news conference in support of a pipeline project.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Rick Perry - “I think there were very much some strong inconsistencies and just misinformation in the [Washington Post] story,” said Texas Gov. Rick Perry about the racial slur inscribed on a rock outside of a property his family had leased. “I have no idea where or why people would say that they had seen that rock, because that’s just not the fact.”(Photo: Kayana Szymczak/Getty Images)

5 / 9

Rick Perry - "It reveals to me that [Obama] grew up in a privileged way. He never had to really work for anything. He never had to go through what Americans are going through,” said Texas Gov. Rick Perry about President Obama’s comment that American businesses inadequate efforts to attract foreign investment to the U.S. “This president has never felt that angst that they have in their heart,” he added, referencing the nation’s unemployed.(Photo: Kayana Szymczak/Getty Images)

ADVERTISEMENT
Newt Gingrich - “I know a great deal about Washington, and if you want to change Washington -- we just tried four years of amateur ignorance and it didn’t work very well -- so having somebody who actually knows Washington might be a really good thing,” said Newt Gingrich, defending the more than $1 million fee he received from mortgager Freddie Mac to offer “advice as a historian.”(Photo: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

6 / 9

Newt Gingrich - “I know a great deal about Washington, and if you want to change Washington -- we just tried four years of amateur ignorance and it didn’t work very well -- so having somebody who actually knows Washington might be a really good thing,” said Newt Gingrich, defending the more than $1 million fee he received from mortgager Freddie Mac to offer “advice as a historian.”(Photo: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Mitt Romney - Sometimes I just don't think that president understands America. This week, or was it last week, he said that Americans are lazy,” Mitt Romney told a group at a sign-making factory in South Carolina, misconstruing a comment President Obama made about the nation having grown lazy in its efforts to attract foreign investment and new businesses into America.(Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

7 / 9

Mitt Romney - Sometimes I just don't think that president understands America. This week, or was it last week, he said that Americans are lazy,” Mitt Romney told a group at a sign-making factory in South Carolina, misconstruing a comment President Obama made about the nation having grown lazy in its efforts to attract foreign investment and new businesses into America.(Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Peter King - “They’re angry people who are losers who are on the outside and screaming,” said Rep. Pete King (R-New York) of the Occupy Movement protesters. “If they want to get involved, go into the system, get involved with concrete proposals — how do they achieve anything by living in dirt for two months?” (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

8 / 9

Peter King - “They’re angry people who are losers who are on the outside and screaming,” said Rep. Pete King (R-New York) of the Occupy Movement protesters. “If they want to get involved, go into the system, get involved with concrete proposals — how do they achieve anything by living in dirt for two months?” (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Stephen Colbert: May 13 - The faux-conservative television host turns 48. (Photo: Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images)

9 / 9

Stephen Colbert - "I am addicted to all the Republican presidential candidates. They are like crack, in that they will devastate Black communities," said comedian Stephen Colbert.(Photo: Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images)