Jan Brewer vs. Barack Obama: President Says Exchange Was 'Not A Big Deal'

(AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

A tense airport exchange with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, in which she wagged her finger in his face, was blown out of proportion, President Barack Obama said in an ABC News interview on Thursday.

"I think it's always good publicity for a Republican if they're in an argument with me. ... But this was really not a big deal," Obama said. "Last time we met, she wasn't fully satisfied. But, you know, I think this is a classic example of things getting blown out of proportion."

The testy exchange with Brewer on Wednesday distracted from the economic message Obama has sought to emphasize during a three-day campaign-style tour that followed his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night.

Obama, who spent much of last year locked in battles with Republicans in the U.S. Congress, took a combative tone in the address as he pressed Republicans to work with him to fix the sluggish economy.

The president has also differed sharply with Brewer over immigration policy.

The Justice Department has challenged a controversial bill Brewer signed in 2010 cracking down on illegal immigrants in Arizona that called for police to check the immigration status of anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.

Obama has referred to the Arizona immigration law as "misguided." Critics have said the measure is a mandate for racial profiling, but its supporters believe tougher measures are needed to prevent non-citizens from taking U.S. jobs in a tough economic climate.

But Obama sought to play down any tension during his brief meeting with Brewer at the Phoenix airport.

"She wanted to give me a letter, asking for a meeting. And I said, 'We'd be happy to meet,'" Obama told ABC.

Brewer and Obama spoke when she met him on the airport tarmac to welcome him to her state.

During their chat, Obama told Brewer he disagreed with an account she had given of a meeting they had at the White House two years ago. At one point during the conversation, she pointed a finger at the president.

"Let me say that I respect the office of president, and when I went to meet him at the tarmac, I went with a happy heart," Brewer said on Thursday on CNN.

"He turned that conversation immediately to my book 'Scorpions for Breakfast' and was immediately somewhat distraught, disappointed about the way that he was portrayed in that book," she said.

The book, released in November, ranked 276,665th in sales on Amazon.com before the airport showdown, but by Thursday it had shot to No. 21 on the Best Sellers in Books category and No. 2 on the site's Movers and Shakers, the Arizona Republic newspaper reported.

Asked whether she created the spat with Obama to sell more copies of her book, Brewer told CNN: "Absolutely not, that's absolutely ridiculous."

Immediately after meeting with Obama at the White House in 2010, Brewer described the exchange as "cordial" but she later wrote in the book that she felt he had lectured her.

(Additional Reporting By Caren Bohan and Tim Gaynor; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[Melfolio]

01:21 PM on 01/28/2013

Old Hoe needs to be put back in check.

[shelahj]

11:36 AM on 06/18/2012

I am finding that Pres. Obama's secret service is no good. They are not giving him the protection that they have given other presidents. They need to pick up their security and their game plan. Why are they so loose with this president??? The Democrates need to demand this protection.

[shelahj]

11:33 AM on 06/18/2012

Brewer is out of control and needs to be reeled back in. Who does she thinks she is. Democrates you need to get her out of there.

[firstamerican]

12:58 PM on 03/27/2012

My question is, where the Hell were the secret service, isn't it their job to take someone down making a motion like threating the Pres. of the United States?,pointing a finger shows aggression at someone. She was not elected, she took over after Gov.Napolitaine took the job as Head of National Security.

[usafan1]

10:38 PM on 02/25/2012

The overreaching and punitive legislation in Alabama and Georgia that was to crackdown on illegal immigration ended up slashing 40% of available farm laborers. This left millions of dollars of crops rotting in the fields. The Legislators of these states are now fighting to save face by drafting a new "guest worker" policy. Arizona's Brewer will come to realize the mistake she and her Legislators made. The courts will prove President Obama correct. He will not need to wag his finger in her face. The courts will do that for him. That will be a photo worth viewing.

[sirfascist]

02:32 PM on 02/05/2012

I must say, I can understand Ms. Brewer's irritation at the fact that her meeting with the President felt like a lecture. You see, body language speaks louder than words written or said. And in any other country, with any other leader, she'd have been shot on the spot. Do not approach the President of the United States of America with your own selfish agendas governing your actions. Why? Because if you wag that finger at the Office of the President, you better believe the Office is going to wag back.

[drgitt]

11:36 PM on 02/22/2012

This great democratic system allows Ms. Brewer to act the way she did. Ms. Brewer knows that she was hired by people who like her regardless and not by the president whom she disrespected. No President of The United States of America has been disrespected like this president, He was called a liar at a " State Of The Union" address, he is accosted as Barack Obama or Obama when he is being spoken about while Newt Gingrich is addressed as Mr. Speaker although he has not been the speaker for almost twenty years. Donald Trump doubted he is an American and wanted to demand that he produce a birth certificate, Franklin Graham ("judge not less ye be judged") recently said that he is not sure that President Obama is a christian. Maybe we should check the President's records to see if he had a DUI in the past. "Man looketh on the outward appearance but God looketh on the heart."

[venice6]

02:49 PM on 02/01/2012

Ugh..

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/399884_313632932006806_100000803041280_749542_1143038152_n.jpg

[venice6]

12:52 PM on 02/01/2012

What was really said...

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/426427_10150493348171408_727971407_8924229_1284093105_n.jpg

[LOVE LOVELY]

02:33 PM on 01/31/2012

I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE RED, BLACK, WHITE, PURPLE BLUE OR GREEN RESPECT IS SOMETHING YOU GIVE AND EARNED; MS. JAN BREWER WAS DISRESPECTFUL TO THE PRESIDENT! SHE COULD HAVE HANDLE HERSELF AS PROFESSIONAL. BUT THIS IS WHAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY LIKES WE SEE TOO MUCH OF THIS ACTION; WE DO WANT CHANGE BUT NOT LIKE THIS!!!! PEOPLE IN HIGH AUTHORITY SHOULD GROW UP AND BE FOR ALL PEOPLE NO MATTER WHAT THE RACE IS OR WHO THEY ARE AND LETS FACE IT THE IS NOT GOING TO GET BETTER THIS IS THE NEW NORMAL "IT IS GOING TO WORST" IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MANY JOBS YOU BRING BACK THERE IS NOTHING AS WE BEEN TOLD NO MONEY, NO OIL NOTHING; THE ONLY THING IS HARDER TIMES AND WE NEED TO LEARN TO LOVE EACH OTHER WITH PURE HEART AND REAL LOVE BECAUSE WE WILL NEED EACH OTHER NO MATTER OUR COLOR OR RACE. MR. PRESIDENT I AM SORRY YOU WHERE DISRESPECTED BUT MS. JAN AND OTHERS IN HIGH POLITICAL AUTHORITY NEED TO BEING TEACHING THE WORLD HOW TO LOVE AND COME TOGETHER AND WORK TOGETHER AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE WHEN IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO IT WE ALL BLEED RED. LET'S STOP THE FIGHTING AND BUILD ON LOVE WE NEED EACH OTHER TO LIVE AND TO SURVIVE. THE SONG WRITER SAID WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE SWEET LOVE IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT CAN AND WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE! "YES WE CAN"

[v650]

01:41 PM on 02/04/2012

http://drl­illianglas­sbodylangu­ageblog.fi­les.wordpr­ess.com/20­11/05/bibi­-obama-fin­ger-point.­png?w=426

[Anoushah Alie]

10:33 AM on 01/30/2012

Typical Republican--deprived of professionalism, class, respect, and consideration. Why would she stick her finger in a grown man's face? It looked as if, she was scolding a child! Shame on her! The exchange was tensed and disrespectful from her angle, but as always, the President maintained his poise.

[intolleft]

09:00 AM on 01/30/2012

NB'DN'C Brian Williams: "Who have you ever seen talking to the president like this?"

You:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lAy3XVn7oIU

[Stacyhs]

12:47 PM on 01/30/2012

Williams wasn't pointing his finger in Bush's face nor was it a confrontational meeting.
There is a complete difference in the manner in which it was done.

Bush has such an "ecalectic" reading style. Heh heh heh...

GWB must have found that in the same dictionary as "nuculer".

[intolleft]

12:52 PM on 01/30/2012

How do you know that the Brewer Obama meeting was confrontational? Do you have audio nobody else has?

[PhyreSpirit]

07:51 PM on 06/06/2013

Naturally it was completely different! It doesn't fit with your argument so it has to be different! ;)

[Tykete]

02:07 PM on 01/30/2012

Excellent!!!! intolleft...fanned

[intolleft]

02:30 PM on 01/30/2012

I really cannot take credit for that, my buddy posted the link of facebook.

[bordway]

10:26 AM on 01/29/2012

Distraught? How come you were the only one wagging a finger Jan?

[GAE]

10:08 AM on 01/29/2012

Very disrespectful! Wonder how republicans would have responded if a democrat had pointed a finger at President George W. Bush? I think they would have said, "This is disrespecting the president!"

[marijam]

07:40 AM on 01/30/2012

Yes, I completely agree. Yes, it was a "big deal". Yes, turn it around. What if a black man had been photographed pointing his finger at President Bush up in his face like that?

[S13k]

05:20 AM on 01/29/2012

What you are seeing is culmination of republican party hatred, racism, and a complete disrespect of the our President being embodied rright in front of all of us. This was disrespectful and unheard of. And who does she think she is? Shes a hillbilly governor from a Racist state who will go nowhere in politics. As much as i truly dislike republicans, keep on being who you really are, and simply hand over the election. And to anyone who finds this anything other then disgusting is just as backwards and intolerant.

[v650]

01:42 PM on 02/04/2012

http://drl­illianglas­sbodylangu­ageblog.fi­les.wordpr­ess.com/20­11/05/bibi­-obama-fin­ger-point.­png?w=426

http://www­.google.co­m/imgres?q­=picture+o­f+Obama+po­inting+at+­netanyahu&­hl=en&sa=X­&gbv=2&biw­=1366&bih=­705&tbm=is­ch&prmd=im­vns&tbnid=­tRYMTjGo14­dedM:&imgr­efurl=http­://oicw65-­racerelati­ons.blogsp­ot.com/201­1/07/mr-ob­ama-you-ha­ve-been-wa­rned.html&­docid=rK0y­9cXekofIAM­&imgurl=ht­tp://1.bp.­blogspot.c­om/-oMI7PG­wlwoY/ThXw­XJ7R6ZI/AA­AAAAAABAY/­d88_-E3RoN­Y/s1600/lo­ok-obama-i­srael-neta­nyahu-poli­tical-post­er-1270822­1531.jpg&w­=368&h=400­&ei=k3ktT8­C0PIG5twfa­ysHKDw&zoo­m=1

[philryanrpr]

11:24 PM on 01/28/2012

Well considering how dumb as a box of rocks this woman is, a little education from a smart guy wouldn't exactly be a bad thing.

[intolleft]

09:00 AM on 01/30/2012

How smart is he?

[Stacyhs]

01:15 PM on 01/30/2012

Very. He attended both Columbia University (B.A.) and Harvard Law School (J.D.).
He is a Constitutional law professor.

Of course, that was in-between his fraternizing with "terrorists", becoming a secret agent for al Qaeda, and plotting to turn the US into a socialist/communist/fascist/nazi state.

[philryanrpr]

11:01 PM on 01/31/2012

clearly smarter than you, who must have been living under a rock or in a cave. You don't get to be the editor of Harvard Law Review by being the dummy in the room. What can Jan Brewer claim? Radiology technician? Gee, she is intellectually towering over Obama - NOT! You can find out things you might like to know about Brewer's past just from Wikipedia. if you can honestly claim that her background is superior to Obama's, then you are probably as mentally ill as she clearly is. If you didn't see the mess that she made at the Arizona governor's debates and STILL got elected by those fools, then you're not really being honest about who she really is.