Here’s a guy who reads too many of his campaign’s press releases.

Private sector’s doing fine, huh?

Let’s look at some charts.

And here’s the labor participation rate…

One more – we don’t want to overload you on a Friday…

#doingjustfine is now the No. 1 trending hashtag on Twitter today. That’s no surprise.

UPDATE: This is going to end up being a big deal. First guy out with a press release appears to be Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO)…

“Today, President Obama told nearly 13 million unemployed Americans that the ‘private sector is doing fine.’ That’s ridiculous, and it only underscores just how out of touch this administration is when it comes to understanding the real economic challenges facing families, seniors, and job creators nationwide.

“The fact remains that President Obama’s fiscal policies have failed, leaving us instead with record debt and stalled job creation. But instead of working to pass pro-growth policies, he is calling for the highest tax hike in American history – a step that leaders in his own party have rejected.

“President Obama also denied allegations today that his administration leaked sensitive information that could compromise our nation’s security. I once again urge the president to follow the precedent set by previous administrations and move forward with a special prosecutor to conduct an investigation immediately.”

UPDATE #2: Mitt Romney…

Now this morning, the President had a press conference. I don’t know if you heard it, but he called a press conference and pulled people in and said a number of things, and one of the most interesting things he said was this: he said the private sector is doing fine. He said the private sector is doing fine. Is he really that out of touch? I think he’s defining what it means to be detached and out of touch with the American people. Has there ever been an American president who is so far from reality as to believe in an America where 23 million Americans are out of work, or stopped looking for work, or can only find part-time jobs and need full-time jobs, where the economy grew in the first quarter of the year at only 1.9 percent, where the median income in America has dropped by 10% over the last four years, where there have been record number of home foreclosures, for the President of the United States to stand up and say the private sector is doing fine is going to go down in history. It’s an extraordinary miscalculation and misunderstanding by a President who is out of touch, and we’re going to take back this country and get America working again.

UPDATE #3: And now the walkback…

In his afternoon remarks, Obama decried the “political games” that had pumped up his morning comments into controversy. Obama described his comments earlier as matching what he’s said for the last year: “we’ve actually seen some good momentum in the private sector. That has not been the biggest drag on the economy.”

Obama stressed that he’s aware of the economy’s weakness, saying it’s “the reason I had a press conference. That’s why I spent yesterday, the day before yesterday, this past week, this past month and this past year talking about how we can make the economy stronger. The economy is not doing fine. There are too many people out of work. The housing market is still weak, too many homes underwater and that’s precisely why I asked Congress to start taking some steps that can make a difference.”