Obama compares murdered American officials in Libya to his Las Vegas campaign volunteers

President Barack Obama compared his campaign volunteers to the American officials killed in Libya, saying that 'like them, you guys are Americans who sense that we can do better than we’re doing'.

Obama's remarks came during a meeting with volunteer leaders in Las Vegas. 'And obviously [our] hearts are broken for the families but I wanted to encourage those folks at the State Department that they were making a difference,' he said, according to a pool report.

'The sacrifices that our troops and our diplomats make are obviously very different from the challenges that we face here domestically but, like them, you guys are Americans who sense that we can do better than we’re doing….I’m just really proud of you.'

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Comparison: President Obama at a rally in Las Vegas last night where he compared his campaign staff to the officials killed in Libya

Obama also described how he had reminded State Department diplomats in Washington that 'as difficult as change is' they had to be resolute and they had to be realistic about 'how hard change is' - language that was uncomfortably close to an Obama campaign slogan.

He told the Las Vegas volunteers: 'I had a chance to go to the State Department to comfort some of the friends and co-workers of the the folks who had fallen and I reminded them that as hard as things are sometimes, as difficult as change is that if we’re resolute, if we don’t give up, if we don’t give in, if we don’t become cynical, if we continue to be realistic about how hard change is but also keep in our hearts that sense of idealism and sense of purpose then over time good things happen.'

On the campaign trail, Obama often states that 'change is hard'. In a video to activists at the progressive Netroots Nation in June, he said that 'change is hard, but we've seen it's possible'.

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During her prime-time Democratic convention speech this month, Michelle Obama said that her husband often reminded her that 'change is hard and change is slow'. In June, she told a Chicago audience: 'Real change is slow. Real change is difficult and it's painful.'

Obama had drawn fire from some Republicans for heading to Las Vegas on the campaign trail despite the crisis in Libya following murderous attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi and the US embassy in Cairo.

At a public rally, after applause and chants of 'Four more years! Four more years!' from supporters had died down he opened by telling them: 'So I wanted to begin tonight by just saying a few words about a tough day that we had today.'

He then went on to say: 'We lost four Americans last night, who were killed when they were attacked at a diplomatic post in Libya.'