White House defends Biden on Libya

The White House is defending Vice President Biden over his debate statement that "we weren't told" about requests for more security at a U.S. Consulate in Libya before the Sept. 11 attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Biden was referring to President Obama, the White House and himself, as opposed to the State Department and other parts of the government.

Biden "was speaking directly for himself and the president," Carney said. "He meant the White House."

The vice president made the statement during Thursday's debate against Republican opponent Paul Ryan.

As the Associated Press reported, a "State Department official testified before Congress on Wednesday that she had refused requests for more security in Benghazi (Libya) because the department wanted to train Libyans for the task. Another U.S. official testified he had argued unsuccessfully for more security for weeks."

Republicans have jumped on Biden's statement. Presidential nominee Mitt Romney said today that Biden's debate comments "directly contradicts sworn testimony," and Americans "have a right to know what's going on." Romney said that Biden is "doubling down on denial."

Said Carney: "In over four hours of testimony ... no one who testified about this matter suggested that requests for additional security were made to the president or the White House. So these are issues appropriately that are handled by security professionals at the State Department."

The White House continues to take heat over the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, especially over changing descriptions of exactly what happened.

Officials initially attributed the violence to the protest of an anti-Islam video that got out of hand; now they say it was a pre-planned attack and there was no protest.

Obama aides say the story evolved because different pieces of evidence emerged in the days following the attack.