Romney surrogate Sununu apologizes for earlier Obama remark

A top campaign surrogate for Mitt Romney apologized Tuesday night after he was criticized by the Obama campaign after he said on a conference call Tuesday that President Obama should "learn how to be an American."

John Sununu, former New Hampshire governor, made the comment in response to President Obama saying Friday that businesses owe their success to others, and largely to the government.

Sununu clarified his remarks and said that the president "has to learn the American formula for creating business."  He said in a TV interview that he made a mistake and that he shouldn’t have used those words.

Earlier, Obama spokeswoman Lis Smith released a statement saying Sununu crossed a line -- presumably in reference to the "American" remark.

"The Romney campaign has officially gone off the deep end," Smith said. "The question is what else they'll pull to avoid answering serious questions about Romney's tenure at Bain Capital and investments in foreign tax havens and offshore accounts. This meltdown and over-the-top rhetoric won't make things better --  it only calls attention to how desperate they are to change the conversation."

Sununu clarified his comments on CNN.