The Obama administration "should have sent someone with a higher profile" to Sunday's massive anti-terrorism rally in Paris, White House spokesman Josh Earnest has said, reports USA Today.
That omission, however, in no way diminishes the support and help the United States has given France since the terrorist attacks of a week ago, Earnest said on Monday.
"There is no doubt that the American people and this administration stand foursquare behind our allies in France as they face down this threat," he said.
More than 3.7 million people — including 40 world leaders — participated in Sunday's rally to express solidarity in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in France.
It was a "remarkable display of unity by the French people," Earnest said, but no top-tier US official was there.
Obama himself would have liked to have attended under different circumstances, Earnest said, but security proved to be an "onerous and significant" factor.
The infrastructure needed to protect the president might have prevented some average French people from attending the event, Earnest said. Security for most presidential trips takes months.
The administration did not know about the rally until Friday, Earnest added: "We're talking about a march that came together with essentially 36 hours notice and a march that occurred outdoors with an obviously very large number of people who participated."
Obama has spoken on the phone with French President François Hollande, and US counter-terrorism officials are working with their French counterparts, Earnest said.
The US ambassador to France, Jane Hartley, did attend Sunday's rally.
Earnest declined to discuss the details of whether the administration considered sending Obama, Vice President Biden, or some other high-level official to the march.
"We want to send a clear message, even in a symbolic context like this one, that the American people stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies in France," Earnest said. "And sending a high-level, highly visible senior administration official with a high profile to that march would have done that."
The French government has not been critical of Obama's absence.
Gérard Araud, the French ambassador to the United States, told MSNBC that his country appreciates the US support, citing Obama's statements and his recent visit to the French embassy in Washington, D.C., to sign a condolence book. "From the French side," he said, there are "no hard feelings."
Secretary of State John Kerry, while describing the criticism as "quibbling," told reporters he would visit Paris later this week.
Read more of this report from USA Today.
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