I believe it was a distraction. The real reason for the neglect from Obama is simply a racial issue. When NASA was going to the moon, civil rights activists started a campaign to discredit the agency, saying the money should be spent on poor (black) people. Ever since, the civil rights organizations have not been supporters of NASA. So it is not a surprise that the first black president, who wants to expand everything else, cut NASA.
The same BS goes on in India right now, regarding the basically miniscule Indian space program, but the anti-space demagogues are feminists.