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White House on 'red line': Nothing to see here

The White House is pushing back against those who say President Obama was trying to shift responsibility on Syria when he said, "I didn't set a red line, the world set a red line," during a joint press conference on Wednesday.

After NBC News White House correspondent Chuck Todd tweeted that this was "a new answer on his red line comment," White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer shot back: "No, pretty sure the WH said this to you as recently as this weekend."

"This has been a redline for the world for decades," Pfeiffer later tweeted. "We [would] be having the debate no matter with/without that statement." (When reached by email, Pfeiffer referred POLITICO to his tweets.)

(WATCH: Obama's original 'red line' Syria comments)

Pfieffer's pushback is part of an effort to temper the enthusiasm of the Beltway press corps and Twitterverse, which saw Obama's remarks as a significant shift in the administration's talking points on Syria's chemical weapons use.

"That's not something I just made up. I didn't pluck it out of thin air," the president said during a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt in Stockholm. "I didn't set a red line. The world set a red line... My credibility's not on the line. The international community's credibility is on the line, and America and Congress's credibility's on the line."

MSNBC's Chuck Todd tweeted that the goal of those remarks "was to de-personalize the Syria issue" from the president, which he called "one of [the White House's hurdles with some [congressional] GOP."

In an email to POLITICO, Todd confirmed that White House officials made similar comments in a background briefing with reporters over the weekend, but that Wednesday's press conference marked the first time Obama had made the comments publicly.

(WATCH: Obama's full news conference in Sweden)

Meanwhile, the right-wing is pouncing on the new statement, calling it another move by Obama to try and shift responsibility off his shoulders.

Michael Goldfarb, the co-founder of the Free Beacon and a former McCain campaign aide, channeled the right's interpretation of Obama's remarks when he tweeted: "Let me be clear: everybody's credibility is on the line in Syria....except mine."

On the other end of the spectrum MSNBC's Chris Hayes defended Obama: "To people mocking the president for the red line stuff: how should he have reacted to earlier reports of chemical weapon use?" he wrote on Twitter.

Either way, Obama's comments on Wednesday are new, and -- like the move to bring a vote to Congress -- do signal a continuing effort to broaden responsibility for a military strike against Syria.

UPDATE (11:40 a.m.): Pfeiffer responds via Twitter:

This isnt intended to be some debate abt what is news. Thats up to you and @chucktodd not me ... the important point is that too many make this Obama's redline, when it has been the redline for the world for decades ... you guys are the arbiter of news, but calling it obama's redline ignores context and history.

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