Michelle Obama on Rosen Comments: Families Are Off Limits

First lady Michelle Obama would not be drawn into criticism of Ann Romney during an interview with NPR on Monday, agreeing with her husband's comment last week that families are off-limits.

NPR host Michel Martin asked Mrs. Obama whether it wasn't a "fair point" on the part of Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen, "even if you don't agree with it, to say that perhaps Ann Romney is not best positioned to advise her husband on economic issues affecting American women."

Mrs. Obama responded by saying that all women, regardless of their positions and roles in society, needed to be respected. "That's where we need to be. And I think that's all I have to say on the issue. I think we've said all that we have to say on that," she said.

Rosen caused controversy in her remarks to CNN last week suggesting that the wife of Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney wasn’t qualified to weigh in on economic issues because as a stay-at-home mom Ann Romney had “never worked a day in her life.”    

“The one thing I believe is that families are off limits. And I think my husband said it, and he was clear on that. And I totally agree with him,” Mrs. Obama told NPR in an interview on Monday that aired on Tuesday.