Obama downplays Brewer confrontation

by KTAR Newsroom (January 26th, 2012 @ 2:07pm)

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer points during an intense conversation with President Barack Obama after he arrived at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, in Mesa, Ariz. Asked moments later what the conversation was about, Brewer, a Republican, said: "He was a little disturbed about my book." Brewer recently published a book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," something of a memoir of her years growing up and defends her signing of Arizona's controversial law cracking down on illegal immigrants, which Obama opposes. Obama was objecting to Brewer's description of a meeting he and Brewer had at the White House, where she described Obama as lecturing her. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Amid a myriad of media coverage, President Barack Obama has downplayed the confrontation he had with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer shortly after stepping off of Air Force One on Wednesday.

"This is not a big deal," the president said in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer that will air on ABC World News Thursday night.

to listen to the full interview.

The whole incident was sparked after Obama supposedly disagreed with a statement in Brewer's book, Scorpions for Breakfast, and the two appeared to have a tense moment before the president went to greet people who had come to see him.

Brewer has been enjoying a lot of press coverage for both her and her book, which saw a 200,000 percent increase in sales, due to the tense moment and Obama seemed to intimate that the governor may have had ulterior motives.

"It's always good publicity for a Republican if they're in an argument with me," said Obama.

Obama blamed the media for taking a small issue and splashing it across websites and newspapers.

"I think this is a classic example of things getting blown out of proportion," he said.

While some could argue that is the case, Brewer came out shortly after the incident and said Obama was "thin-skinned" and his attitude surprised her.

"I was a bit taken aback by his stance and his attitude," the governor said. "I tried to listen and tried to be respectful to him."

When asked flat-out if he was tense during the meeting, Obama first attempted to laugh it off but, when pressed, responded with a firm "no."


Last 5 Comments

  • Reply Abuse Vote
    Sure he does
    stoptheinsanity
    his visit to Arizona was a disaster..and he knows Brewer was right..he was arrogant and intended to lecture her cause he considers himself king in the NWO.
  • Reply Abuse Vote
    No Big Deal Exactky.......
    HPB
    The President has much bigger things to deal with than continuing to dicuss Govenor Brewer. She is not worth anymore of his time. He is downplaying what took place so people can get on with their lives and stop going back and forth about this. The bottom line is that people that don't like Obama are going to side with Govenor Brewer and vice-versa. It is human nature. For those that don't like Obama he or she is going to find some fault with anything he says or does. And to whomever made the comment about "pot calling the kettle bkack" there is no place for that.
  • Reply Abuse Vote
    Hmm
    nokidding
    "This is not a big deal," the president said. Vice president Joe Biden disagreed saying, "This is a big F deal".
  • Reply Abuse Vote
    normaly I wouldn't watch
    Billy B
    but in this case I can't wait. I will voice my opinion afterward.
  • Reply Abuse Vote
    not a big deal?
    Billy B
    then explain the prime time photo-op
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