Obama to Fox News’ Ed Henry: ‘I Didn’t Know You Were the Spokesperson for Mitt Romney’

Call it a simple joke or part of a more calculated attack campaign on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, but a curious statement by President Barack Obama's during today's press conference is making headlines.

(Related: Henry responds to Megyn Kelly over Obama's ribbing)

The quick quip was prefaced by a question from Fox News' Ed Henry. "I wanted to get your first reaction to the Iranian terror plot," Henry said. "What specific steps will you take to hold Iran accountable, especially when Mitt Romney said last week, quote, 'If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on earth, I am not your president. You have that president today.'"

Obama's response, "I didn't know you were the spokesperson for Mitt Romney," brought laughter from Henry's peers. Watch the incident unfold, below:

Again, this very well could have been something that came organically and in the moment. But some politicos are claiming that the president's re-election campaign is setting its sights on Mitt Romney.

Below, see a Fox News interview with Romney campaign manager Eric Fehrnstrom, during which the president's purported Romney-targeting is addressed:

Obama's joke may be indicative of an assumption within his campaign that Mitt Romney will end up being the inevitable 2012 Republican candidate for the presidency.

We'll have to wait and see what the White House has to say next about Romney, but Obama campaign architect David Axelrod's tweets only add fuel to the fire: