Politics

Obama Disavows Claim White House Is 'Winning' Shutdown Fight

Anonymous quote attributed to White House official

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President Obama disavowed the idea that the White House is "winning" the shutdown battle with House Republicans.

"There's no winning," Obama said on a lunchtime visit to a Pennsylvania Avenue sandwich shop with Vice President Joe Biden. "No one is winning."

The debate over who who was winning the shutdown defined the fourth day of the shutdown, as House Speaker John Boehner angrily denounced comments from an anonymous senior White House official that suggested the president sees political advantage to a shutdown. "We are winning. … it doesn't really matter to us" how long the shutdown lasts, the official told the Wall Street Journal.