Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Monday took aim at a comment that President Barack Obama made Saturday about Americans being “lazy” about creating new jobs.

Obama made the comment when he spoke at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Business Summit in Honolulu. Asked about “impediments to investment in the United States” from the Chinese perspective, Obama reminded listeners that America still attracts foreign investment.

“I think it’s important to remember that the United States is still the largest recipient of foreign investment in the world,” said Obama. “And there are a lot of things that make foreign investors see the U.S. as a great opportunity -- our stability, our openness, our innovative, free-market culture.

"But we’ve been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades,” added Obama. “We’ve kind of taken for granted -- well, people will want to come here and we aren’t out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America. And so one of the things that my administration has done is set up something called SelectUSA that organizes all the government agencies to work with state and local governments where they’re seeking assistance from us, to go out there and make it easier for foreign investors to build a plant in the United States and put outstanding U.S. workers back to work in the United States of America.

“And we think that we can do much better than we’re doing right now,” Obama continued. “Because of our federalist system, sometimes a foreign investor comes in and they’ve got to navigate not only federal rules, but they’ve also got to navigate state and local governments that may have their own sets of interests. Being able to create, if not a one-stop shop, then at least no more than a couple of stops for people to be able to come into the United States and make investments, that’s something that we want to encourage.”

Scott -- who spent decades in business before becoming politically active in recent years with Conservatives for Patients’ Rights to oppose the health-care law that's Obama's signature legislation and running for governor as a Republican in 2010 -- came out swinging at the president in a statement released on Monday.

"President Obama's latest observation that job creation efforts have been hindered because America has been ‘lazy’ in attracting investment is clearly incorrect," said Scott. “To characterize the efforts of American businesses and governors throughout the nation who are working hard to build jobs in this way is not only wrong but stands in the way of their efforts to sell the value of our great nation every day. I recently returned from Brazil, where I and dozens of Florida business leaders worked hard to attract jobs to America. Every day, my focus is on attracting new businesses and jobs to Florida.

“Obstacles to job creation in America are a result of policy, not of motivation,” Scott insisted. “Our business taxes are among the highest in the world. Our regulations are among the most difficult in the world. If you need evidence, look no further than the companies who have moved their oil rigs from the Gulf coast to foreign countries in the last year because of the regulatory environment. Just last week, yet another major medical device manufacturer announced they were cutting more than 1,000 jobs because of new Obamacare taxes. The president's comments indicate a belief that more taxes, more regulation and more government is the solution, yet those are the very things standing in the way of those of us who are trying -- very energetically -- to recruit businesses and jobs to our states.

“Please, Mr. President, help us bring jobs to America and let us have an honest conversation about the barriers in our way,” said Scott, who has pledged to create 700,000 jobs in seven years as governor.