Obama again rejects Romney apology call

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RICHMOND, Va., July 15 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama said again in an interview aired Sunday he will not apologize to Mitt Romney for saying Romney's Bain Capital outsourced jobs.

In one of a series of televised interviews last week, Romney said, "He sure as heck ought to say that he's sorry for the kinds of attacks that are coming from his team." Romney is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Friday, Obama first refused to apologize. "Ultimately Mr. Romney, I think, is going to have to answer those questions," he said, "because if he aspires to being president one of the things you learn is, you are ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations, but again that's probably a question that he's going to have to answer and I think that's a legitimate part of the campaign."

In Sunday's interview, the president repeated his refusal to say he's sorry.

"No. We will not apologize," Obama told WAVY TV, Portsmouth, Va. "Mr Romney claims he's Mr. Fix-It for the economy because of his business experience, so I think voters entirely legitimately want to know what is exactly his business experience."

Obama made his remarks on the campaign trail.

"And as the head of a private equity firm his job was to maximize profits and help investors," the president said. "There is nothing wrong with that. On the other hand that company also was investing in companies that were called by The Washington Post ''the pioneers of outsourcing.' Mr. Romney is now claiming he wasn't there at the time, except his filings with the [Securities and Exchange Commission] listing says he was the CEO, chairman, and president of the company. ... Harry Truman said 'the buck stops with me' and I think understandably people are going to be interested in, 'Are you in fact responsible for this company you say is one of your primary calling cards for your wanting to be president?'"