Barack Obama
Barack ObamaReuters

US President Barack Obama on Monday let loose with a condescending insult against opponents of the Iran nuclear deal he is trying to force through Congress, claiming those who are critical of the controversial agreement are "crazies."

Obama arrived in Las Vegas on Monday after a two-week vacation in the posh Martha's Vineyard. He spent Monday evening with retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), speaking at a green energy conference hosted by Reid, and then riding with him to a fundraising event for the Democratic candidate seeking to become Reid's successor.

Obama said after his vacation he was "refreshed, renewed, recharged - a little feisty," reports Politico. It evidently didn't take long for that "feistiness" to show.

The president said he and Reid spoke in his armored presidential limo during the ride from the conference to the fundraiser, where they talked about going back to Washington DC to "deal with the crazies in terms of managing some problems."

The comment, given the ongoing push by Obama to gain 1/3 support so as to veto Congressional opposition to the Iran deal, was a not so subtle slander against opponents of the deal. That opposition comes given that the deal has Iran inspect its own key nuclear facilities and keep its entire nuclear program intact while gaining hundreds of billions of dollars in sanctions relief, among other points.

Obama's comment brings to mind his aggressive live address to the American public last month when he promoted the new Iran nuclear deal, saying: "it's those (Iranian) hard-liners chanting 'death to America' who have been most opposed to the deal - they’re making common cause with the Republican caucus."

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest tried to defend Obama's comment, claiming the statement was taken out of context - before being corrected on live television.

At the conference hosted by Reid on Monday, Obama praised the senator for his support of the Iran deal, saying, "Harry’s leadership matters."

Talking about their limo ride afterwards, he said the two spoke about "riding off in the sunset together," as they both finish their terms in office.

“It’s hard for me to express how much I love Harry Reid,” Obama said at the conference. “Everything I’ve accomplished I’ve accomplished because Harry Reid was by my side.”