Trayvon Martin Shooting Case: White House Defends Obama's Remarks About Florida Tragedy

The Trayvon Martin shooting case is only gaining more and more attention, and as the national spotlight continues to shine on Sanford, Florida, the White House finds itself having to defend the emotional remarks President Barack Obama gave on the topic last week.

The White House finds itself in the position of having to explain Obama's remarks on the Trayvon Martin shooting case after the President answered a question about it on Friday in the White House's Rose Garden:

I can only imagine what these parents are going through, the president said. When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids, and I think every parent in American should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this ... You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.

These remarks were assailed over the weekend by a number of Obama's political opponents, and White House Senior Advisor David Plouffe spoke about them on Fox News Sunday yesterday:

Obama was speaking powerfully about this as a parent and no matter gender or race, this is a tragedy, Plouffe said, according to the Christian Post. He went on to call for an investigation into the Feb. 26 shooting death of 17-year-old, unarmed Trayvon Martin, at the hands of George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old self-appointed neighborhood watchman.

The U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation into the Trayvon Martin shooting case last week.

But the controversy over the handling of the case, as well as over Obama's remarks about it, have not died down, as Plouffe called comments on the issue by GOP presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich reprehensible, according to the Christian Post. He added that You can make a decision whether to go out with some shred of dignity or say these irresponsible, reckless things, and he's clearly chosen the latter path, and that's unfortunate for the country, speaking on ABC.

His rebuttal came in response to the following comments by Gingrich:

Any young American of any ethnic background should be safe, period, Gingrich had said. We should all be horrified, no matter what the ethnic background. Is the president suggesting that, if it had been a white who'd been shot, that would be OK, because it wouldn't look like him? That's just nonsense.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum also found himself being criticized by Plouffe after the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania lambasted Obama's remarks on the Trayvon Martin shooting case.

There's a difference between 'Stand Your Ground' and doing what he did, Santorum had said, referencing Zimmerman. And it's a horrible case. It's chilling to hear what happened, and of course the fact that law enforcement didn't immediately go after and prosecute this case is another chilling example of horrible decisions made by people in this process.

But Plouffe didn't give Santorum a leg to stand on, undermining Santorum and Gingrich on Sunday as follows:

You know, this Republican primary at some points has been more of a circus show, Plouffe told CNN in response to Santorum's comments.