Vice President Joe Biden quoted Chinese propaganda newspaper Xinhua in a critique of Republican nominee Mitt Romney at a Burlington, Iowa, campaign event Monday:
"I seldom ever quote the official Chinese government news agency. Seriously, this is what the Chinese government news agency said, and I quote, 'It's rather ironic that a considerable portion of this China battering politician's wealth was actually obtained by doing business with Chinese companies before he entered politics.'"
The editorial from China's official news agency received attention Friday when Obama deputy campaign director Stephanie Cutter tweeted out a Reuters story that quoted from the piece. Although Biden qualified his remarks by noting Xinhua is a the official Chinese government news agency, Cutter did not.