Obama Calls Packers-Seahawks Outcome ‘Terrible’
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TOBY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — It’s a different kind of political football — politicians on both sides of the aisle speaking out against the blown call made in Monday night’s NFL football game.
President Obama Tuesday called the outcome of Monday’s Packers-Seahawks NFL football game “terrible,” after a controversial call by the referees cost the Packers a win.
“I’ve been saying for months, we’ve got to get our refs back,” Obama said in response to a question from ABC News. He was referring to the use of replacement referees during an ongoing league lockout of official crews.
He made the remarks upon returning to the White House from a two-day trip to New York City for the U.N. General Assembly.
Mitt Romney told CNN he really wants to see refs with experience back on the field soon.
Earlier in the day, the NFL acknowledged that the refs Monday botched a late-game call upholding Seattle’s Hail Mary touchdown pass to lift them above Green Bay. But the league declined to overturn the victory.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said that Obama believes there was “a real problem with the call.”
“He said that what happened in that game is a perfect example of why both sides need to come together and resolve their differences so that refs can get back on the field,” Carney told reporters on board Air Force One.
Both sides in the lockout dispute met Tuesday to try to resolve the dispute, but resolution did not appear imminent.
Earlier in the day Paul Ryan also complained about the call, but he then drew a political analogy, arguing that the Obama administration has acted like the replacement refs.
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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, an outspoken opponent of organized labor, took to Twitter to express frustration with the ongoing labor dispute between the NFL and the locked-out union referees.
“After catching a few hours of sleep, the #Packers game is still just as painful. #Returntherealrefs,” Walker tweeted.
Former speaker of the House and failed Republican presidential nominee Newt Gingrich also took to Twitter, knocking the NFL for standing by the call.
“Anyone watching the reruns last night could tell it was an interception not a touchdown. How could the nfl justify such a bad call,” he tweeted.
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