President Obama didn’t exactly walk away from Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) during their disagreement on Wednesday on an airport tarmac near Phoenix, said one of the only people to witness the exchange up close. The president simply began talking to the other two elected officials who were there to greet him.
Mayor Scott Smith of Mesa, Ariz., declined to say exactly what he heard Obama and Brewer talk about during their now-infamous tiff next to Air Force One.
But the mayor said he was standing right next to the governor when the exchange took place and Obama didn’t seem to be in any kind of hurry to leave.
“There was no sense that he was running to or from anything,” Smith told TPM. In fact, he said, the president stayed and had a pleasant conversation with Smith, who’s a Republican, and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat.
It was “just the four of us,” Smith said. “Mayor Stanton and I had a decent talk with him.”
The portrayal of a calm, friendly president seems to at least partly contradict what Brewer has said about the encounter in numerous interviews since Wednesday afternoon. She described the president as “tense” and said he walked away from her while she was in mid-sentence. She told a Phoenix television station she felt “a little bit threatened” by the encounter.
Obama was in the area to tour a nearby Intel chip manufacturing plant and to promote his jobs strategy. But after landing in Mesa, the president somehow ended up talking to Brewer about a book she wrote last year.
Both the governor and White House have said the discussion involved a disagreement about how the book portrayed a June 2010 meeting between Brewer and Obama. A photo of the encounter shows Brewer pointing her finger at the president after handing him a letter she had written.
“It was somewhat of an animated discussion,” Smith said on Thursday. “It revolved around the presentation of the letter…Other than that, I don’t want to get into specifics.”
Smith described the situation as an “awkward moment” but little more than that. He expected the meeting to involve casual pleasantries, not a sticky encounter. “You don’t expect to see that at the bottom of the stairs of Air Force One,” he said.
Smith was disappointed that a small dispute was getting more press than some of the region’s success stories like the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, where the confrontation took place and which has grown exponentially even in the midst of the economic downturn.
He said he was glad the president came to town to highlight Intel and wished the focus could have remained there.
“It was an honor to be able to welcome the president to Mesa, to Arizona,” Smith said, “and I hoped that this little episode between the governor and the president didn’t overshadow all the great things that are going on in the middle of this recession.”
Nick R. Martin
Nick Martin is a reporter for TPMMuckraker. He comes to the site from Arizona, where he worked as a freelance journalist, investigating serial killers, extremist groups, politicians and scoundrels of all stripes for a variety of local and national news outlets. He also operated the award-winning news blog, Heat City.
Could the mayor believe any of this from Brewer. The voters of Ariz. are terribly far away from reality. Brewer is a lady that I saw before the 2010 election, telling the journalist of the multitudes of HEAD-LESS bodies in the desserts of Ariz. This TV journalist then took time asking every Sherriff in the state how many headless bodies they had come across in their County. The Sherriffs number of headless folks in the state was zero. A question was asked of her in the 2010 Gov,. debate about this . She would not answer and canceled any additional debates, prior to election. The people of Ariz. elected this trash. How could there be any problem?
Lying like a rug! It's what the Far Right does, and what they feel justified in doing.And if you think shaking a finger in someone's face when you talk to them is NOT disrespectful, try doing it to a cop. Let us know what happens.
This was a publicity stunt to increase book sales. Of course she lied!
it seems all of jan brewers accounts of facts have indeed proven to be lies
Yes but they can all play guns in public,even if they are crazy.And live ammo too!
Why didn't Brewer's letter tell President Obama about how Arizona solved its own budget crisis? Not of course by anything the Governor or Legislature did (they were all too busy claiming they were anti-tax). No, the solution came from taxpayers, who approved a ballot referendum that raised over a billion dollars in new sales taxes to fix the problem. No thanks to Arizona's do nothing elected officials.
Yes kneel before Obama.
iam-a-real-american-fight-for-the-rights-of-every- You would prefer that we kneel before those who skewer education and health care to fund tax reductions for their cronies? Give me a break!
gramiam44iam-a-real-american-fight-for-the-rights-of-every- I think the Pillow would be for a pending "jungle Boogie" or something. Who knows, and here i thought I was a real american. dang!!
iam-a-real-american-fight-for-the-rights-of-every- Hey, thanks for...whatever the hell that was.
iam-a-real-american-fight-for-the-rights-of-every-
Of course you'd rather kneel before the 1%, or the people who lie to folks like you to furthere serve them up, trussed and cooked, for the 1%? The only "Freedom" the Republicans care about is the Freedom to let Big Corporations do whatever they want. Meanwhile, they'll be happy to investigate your bedroom and your uterus.You poor senseless lamb.
iolanthelaiam-a-real-american-fight-for-the-rights-of-every- You don't know any actual republicans, do you?
Are you trying to send a message about "dirty " knees? Forgive me for asking but, will we have to use a Pillow?
Ah, Brewer is a known liar - enough said.
Jan Brewer is a bullshit artist who staged that gesture specifically to lie about it. The actual conversation was simply an awkward moment:
Brewer: "Pull my finger!"
Obama: "No...that's a guy joke, ma'am."
What? A Republican lied? Next they'll be telling us water is wet.
oskieoskie -- they tried that alread. The trickle down theory -- they were actually peeing on us.
Hank10303oskieoskie True fact! Something's been trickling down for the past 32 years, but it sure hasn't been *money*!Article I saw yesterday said that the rich took their awesome tax breaks, and instead of using the money to build businesses or hire people, they just played Wall Street Casino with it, and with our mortgages, and with our freedom. And then they have the chutzpah to blame the destruction of our economy on Liberals, Minorities, and Poor People.
WHY WAS THIS IDIOT B NOT ABORTED...CALLING RON PAUL LMFAO
dem4life Abusive language whomever it is directed to.
After reading the article concerning the encounter, it shows the public how some people in this country will go to any length to derail the President agenda to get this country back on the right track. The creation of jobs was the chief reason he was in the State of Arizona but that fact we now see if over shadowed by his incident. The again the problem could be with the media to focus on this as new worthy over a positive outlook for the economy.
"She told a Phoenix television station she felt “a little bit threatened” by the encounter." (Let me get out my secret decoder ring for that one...)
@Stephen Sywak exactly...
@Stephen Sywak -- hell she should have felt threatened. She put her finger in the Presidents face. Secret service had every right to knock her down on the tarmac and proceed to handcuff her dumb a$$
Stephen Sywak Yeah, that's a tough one. I'm guessing he was scared sh-tless when he saw that face coming toward him.
spiffarino_ncStephen Sywak And the finger just couldn't simply be bitten off, we don't know where that fingers been.
That picture will stick to Jan Brewer forever like a bad tattoo. Hope it sells some books and stuff.
I have to echo ko62 -- what is the point of the "Seems To" in the headline? You're aiming for ambiguity, Nick, in a situation that has none.
And if you're aiming for irony by understating the depths of Brewer's disingenuous account, I think it's the wrong tone for this article.
john Decker depths of Brewer's disingenuous account --- she's a known liar what depth? She is a manipulative lying B______
Hank10303 The "depths of her disingenuous account" does not mean she has depth, Hank. It means how deep her lying extends.
She is a joke. Needed Palin to write an intro on her book. Doubt if Palin read it
jdanner46 Brewer or Palin?
jdanner46 Palin read.....some of it, all of it....
jdanner46 Can Palin read?
She's just trying to sell more copies of her book. Conflict = Profit.
sassafrasgreen She used PAC money to buy copies of her own book. Suckers.
where was the SECRET SERVICE when this woman attempted to hand the POTUS a 'letter'? no-one had any idea what was in that envelope...and this is a strange woman who makes no secret of her dislike for the POTUS.
Give me a break. She's the governor of Arizona, not some random lady.
dsassen I don't know, she seems pretty random to me, I will agree with the not a lady part though.
dsassen I think that's the point. She's the racist governor of Arizona
scottie Uh, she's a notorious and erratic drunk, with a mean racist streak.
mjhellundscottie Boy, you glorious White Patriots down in AZ sure can pick 'em! I used to love vacationing there, but you fools don't get a *penny* from me or anyone I know until she and Arpaio are *done*.
Hey wait! Did the mayor just say we were in the middle of a recession! Good article defending Obama! Really Nick. Make sure the quotes in your article don't contradict the Administrations narrative!
alaric We haven't been in a recession for many months. Do you know what a recession is? Follow the GDP. If it's down in 3 consecutive quarters we are in a recession. We stay within a recession until there are 3 consecutive quarters with a positive GDP. That's why the announcement of an end says "The recession ended 9 months ago."
springerjalaric Its two (2) consecutive quarters of GDP decline, not 3
Obama is thin-skinned, she says.
'Tis true, 'tis true. Also true of the rhino, the GOP pachyderm, and any Naugahyde-upholstered Latinos so miserable they want INTO Arizona--when, you know, compared to Governor Leatherface.
You can't make this stuff up.
TricklingDownMyCollar THIN-SKINNED??? He seems almost preternaturally calm in the face of the constant ridiculous Koch-blocking he gets from the Far Right.
Brewer showed total disrespect to President Obama. That's nothing new since the GOP/TeaParty has been doing it from day one. Brewer ginned up her book sales and pandered to her cracker base.
I have to echo ko62 -- what is the point of the "Seems To" in the headline? You're aiming for ambiguity, Nick, in a situation that has none.-
--->BTW. check on My Name if you are over 5'9". It's a nice Web for tall people to date.
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