Reporter heckles Obama [Video]

By GEOFF HOLTZMAN
Talk Radio News Service

WASHINGTON - President Obama was interrupted twice by a member of the White House press corps during a statement he made Friday regarding his new executive order that will relax deportation rules for millions of young illegal immigrants.

About halfway though the president’s statement, a reporter from the Daily Caller named Neil Munro blurted out a question about the impact the executive order will have on unemployed American citizens.

“Excuse me, sir,” Obama stammered, “it’s not time for questions, sir.” The president appeared visibly perturbed by Munro’s breach of protocol. When the reporter persisted, Obama cut him off, saying, “not while I’m speaking.”

None of the White House journalists I spoke to afterward said they could recall a reporter ever interrupting a sitting president in mid-sentence.

The closest resemblance, they surmised, was when South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson  shouted “You lie!” at Obama during his 2010 State of the Union address.

Unlike Wilson, though, who shouted just once, and then sat down, Munro wasn’t done. This time, however, Munro may have been provoked by the president, who turned to the journalist and explained that he was wrong to have interrupted him.

“Is it the right thing for American workers?” Munro shot back.

“I didn’t ask for an argument,” replied Obama, “I’m answering your question. It is the right thing to do for the American people.”

The president looked noticeably enraged by that point, and turning away, he briskly finished his statement before exiting the podium and walking back into the Oval Office.

Shortly after the incident took place, Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson issued a broad defense of Munro.

“As a general matter, reporters are there to ask questions,” Carlson told the New York Times.

He then told The Huffington Post that Munro’s “critics ought to make it official and take a gig at the White House.”

The Daily Caller later tweeted, “We are very proud of, @NeilMunroDC for doing his job.”

Munro is not a regular presence at the White House, though he has covered pooled events for his publication. His last pool assignment took place late last September when he traveled with Obama to an event at Benjamin Banneker High School in Northeast Washington, DC.

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Posted by Gary on Jun 15 2012. Filed under Arts/Media/Culture, Breaking News, Top stories, US. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.