George Zimmerman’s attorney Craig Sonner and his longtime friend Joe Oliver have launched a public relations offensive arguing that Zimmerman acted in self-defense.

This morning on ABC News, Oliver was asked about the moment on the 911 tapes when some believe that, just prior to killing Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman used a racial slur. Oliver suggested that Zimmerman did not use a racial slur but said “goons,” which Oliver described as a “term of endearment.” Watch it:

More facts on Trayvon Martin that everyone should know here.

President Obama expressed regret at the death of Trayvon Martin last week, saying, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” and called for law enforcement officials to “get to the bottom of exactly what happened.” Despite the fact that political leaders from Rick Santorum to Rep. Allen West (R-FL) have called the Florida teen’s death a tragedy, Newt Gingrich seized on Obama’s comments, saying they were racially motivated and “disgraceful.”

Obama campaign adviser David Plouffe shot back at Gingrich this morning, telling ABC’s George Stephonopoulos that Gingrich’s attempts to disparage Obama’s stance were “reprehensible”:

PLOUFFE: Those comments are reprehensible. And, you know, 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.

Watch it:

Plouffe was also asked about “stand your ground” gun laws, but said re-examining such laws was not Obama’s focus. “Right now, our focus ought to be on sympathy for the family and then making sure an investigation is done thoroughly,” Plouffe said. “And there seems to be…agreement on that across the partisan divide. You have Democrats and Republicans, independents, everybody, saying let’s look into this. And I think that’s what’s going to happen.”