President Obama strongly disagreed with Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen's controversial comment about Ann Romney, saying today that "there's no tougher job than being a mom."

"Anybody who would argue otherwise, I think, probably needs to rethink their statement," the president told Bruce Aune of ABC's Cedar Rapids affiliate KCRG.

Rosen sparked a political firestorm when she questioned Wednesday whether Ann Romney is qualified to gauge women's economic concerns, claiming the mother of five has "never worked a day in her life." The Romney campaign pounced on the comments as an opportunity to boost the GOP frontrunner's standing among female voters, while the president's campaign and the White House publicly distanced themselves from Rosen.

The president went a step further, suggesting candidates' families should be off limits. "I don't have a lot of patience for commentary about the spouses of political candidates," he told KCRG.

"My general view is those of us who are in the public life, we're fair game. Our families are civilians," he said. "I haven't met Mrs. Romney, but she seems like a very nice woman who is supportive of her family and supportive of her husband. I don't know if she necessarily volunteered for this job so, you know, we don't need to be directing comments at them. I think me and Governor Romney are going to have more than enough to argue about during the course of this campaign."