That’s really a low class thing for Obama to have done. Even Eisenhower didn’t mention Joe McCarthy by name even though he disagreed with Joe’s methods:
From Wikipedia
With his victory in the 1952 presidential race, Dwight Eisenhower became the first Republican president in 20 years. The Republican party also held a majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate. After being elected president, Eisenhower made it clear to those close to him that he did not approve of McCarthy and he worked actively to diminish his power and influence. Still, he never directly confronted McCarthy or criticized him by name in any speech, thus perhaps prolonging McCarthy’s power by giving the impression that even the President was afraid to criticize him directly. Oshinsky disputes this, stating that “Eisenhower was known as a harmonizer, a man who could get diverse factions to work toward a common goal... Leadership, he explained, meant patience and conciliation, not ‘hitting people over the head.’”[50]
Agreed, I would go further and say,,,, That's really a NO Class thing for the O to have done.