(USA TODAY) - The violence in Libya and Egypt is now an issue in the United States presidential campaign.
Mitt Romney's campaign sent out a statement last night criticizing the Obama administration for its response to the protests that led to American deaths, triggered by an anti-Muslim film posted online in the United States.
"I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi," Romney said in a statement. "It's disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks."
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt responded: "We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack."
Later reports confirmed that the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in the attacks.