“Those comments are reprehensible,” Plouffe said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.” “Speaker Gingrich is clearly in the last throes of his political career. And, you know, you can make a decision whether to go out with some shred of dignity or say these irresponsible, reckless things, and he's clearly chosen the latter path, and that's unfortunate for the country.”

Plouffe added that Obama’s focus is “obviously, on the tragedy of losing a young person, any young person, no matter the gender or the race. It's a tragedy for the country.”