David Jackson

USA TODAY

President Obama is telling backers not to believe everything they hear coming out of Washington.

During a town hall Thursday in Minneapolis, Obama told the crowd that sometimes the news out of D.C. is only about "Washington fights" and "fabricated issues."

"They're phony scandals that are generated," Obama said. "It's all geared towards the next election or ginning up a base -- it's not on the level. And that must feel frustrating, and it makes people cynical and it makes people turned off from the idea that anything can get done."

Obama did not specify what he meant by "phony scandals."

Congressional Republicans are investigating the Obama administration on a variety of fronts. They include allegations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservatives -- and destroyed relevant e-mails -- as well as the details surrounding the 2012 attack on a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya.

Obama was a little more specific when he spoke at a congressional campaign fundraiser Thursday night, saying lawmakers should focus on people like the working mother with whom he had lunch that afternoon.

"We talk about phony scandals," he said, "and we talk about Benghazi, and we talk about polls, and we talk about the tea party, and we talk about the latest controversy that Washington has decided is important -- and we don't talk about her."