Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is distancing himself from an unnamed adviser quoted in British media suggesting that Democratic President Barack Obama doesn't understand the "Anglo-Saxon" heritage shared by Britain and the U.S.

Campaign spokesman Ryan Williams on Wednesday said -- quote -- "it's not true." Williams said that if an adviser said that, the adviser wasn't reflecting Romney's views.

Even so, Obama dispatched Vice President Joe Biden and top strategist David Axelrod to criticize Romney over the comments in the Telegraph. The London paper quoted an unnamed adviser saying Romney believes the U.S. relationship with Britain is special because of shared "Anglo Saxon heritage" and that the White House doesn't appreciate that shared history.

Biden says the comments are a "disturbing" start to the overseas trip Romney started Wednesday.