Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs blames Romney for Obama’s bad debate performance

On Sunday Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs continued to make excuses for President Barack Obama’s poor debate performance against GOP nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday night, arguing that it was Romney’s fault the President wasn’t prepared to debate him because he had never seen the Romney who showed up to the debate.

Gibbs claimed that ”a clone that looked a lot like Mitt Romney” came to the debate, not the real Mitt Romney, and that clone Romney was a liar.

“Well, look, George, Governor Romney had a masterful theatrical performance just this past week, but the underpinnings and foundations of that performance were fundamentally dishonest,” the former White House Press Secretary and current senior adviser to the Obama campaign told “This Week’s” George Stephanoplous.

He went on to say that he didn’t believe that Romney or his positions had changed, rather Gibbs continued the Obama campaign’s line of attack that Romney is just an expert liar.

“Look, he walked away from the central tenet of his economic theory by saying he had no idea what the president was talking about,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs’ comment was in reference to a point in the debate when Obama incorrectly claimed that currently, the U.S. gives ”tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas.”

“Right now you can actually take a deduction for moving a plant overseas,” Obama said.

At which point Romney told Obama,”Look, I’ve been in business for 25 years. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Gibbs also said he refused to believe that Romney’s economic plan would not result in $5 trillion in tax cuts, even after being shown a Romney ad that was released this morning that cites the Associated Press and ABC saying that attack from the Obama campaign is false.

He then falsely accused Romney of having “decided there wasn’t math involved in this problem” of fixing the national debt, which Gibbs said was “absolutely crazy.”

“Look, the only thing he outlined that he would cut in the budget is Big Bird. He’s taken the battle straight to ‘Sesame Street,’ and let Wall Street run hogwild,” Gibbs claimed.

In all actuality Romney first said he’d cut Obamacare when asked by debate moderator Jim Lehrer, host of PBS’ “News Hour,” what programs he’d cut. Only after that did he add that he’d cut government subsidies for channels like Lehrer’s PBS, which is also the home of the popular children’s television program “Sesame Street.” But Democratic Party and the Obama campaign have found it more politically expedient to claim that cold, heartless Romney wants to get rid of America’s favorite TV show, which is not what Romney said at all.

And while Gibbs would not admit that the President let his supporters down at the debate, after Stephanoplous pointed out that the nearly unanimous opinion of spectators was that “the president didn’t show up on Wednesday night,” Gibbs admitted the President knew he had let himself down.

“Well, look, George, I think the president understood that he hadn’t performed up to his own expectations pretty quickly into – after he got off the stage that night,” Gibbs said.

But he’s not going to let Romney beat him in the debates again, the Obama adviser said later in the interview.

“Well, again, I think now that Barack Obama has had the opportunity to meet both Mitt Romneys, I don’t doubt that he’ll make some adjustments. I know he’s looking forward to the next debate,” he said.