RNC dings Obama for West Coast fundraising swing

The Republican National Committee dinged President Obama for his three-day West Coast fundraising swing this week in its newest Web ad released Thursday.

The minutelong video shows news clips from national and local media on the West Coast discussing Obama’s visit, including one TV anchor saying, “He’s doing what he normally does here — raise money.”

{mosads}Obama started his three-day, five-fundraiser trip on Tuesday, including fundraising for the Senate Majority PAC in Seattle, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in San Francisco and Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Los Angeles. 

The GOP has long criticized the president as the “Campaigner in Chief,” who hasn’t let up on election-year fundraising amid a slew of international crises.

The White House’s only schedule change this week was the cancellation of Obama’s appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” attributed to not joining a comedy show during international crises. 

Last week, the president was on the road for fundraisers when Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was downed in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 on board, including one American, and Israel moved military forces into Gaza.

“As was demonstrated last week, when the president was on the road, and two of these crises flared up, the president was able to fulfill his responsibilities as commander in chief and as the leader of this country from the road,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.

The RNC ad takes a portion of a press question from Tuesday’s White House briefing and turns it into a statement: “there’s no concern about the image that – yes, he can have these calls, but his schedule is basically dominated by fundraising this week.”

The ad ends by flashing the president’s name, then replacing his “Commander in Chief” title to “Fundraiser in Chief.”