Irked Obama Fends Off Interrupting Reporter

He spars twice during Rose Garden statement on immigration move
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 15, 2012 2:33 PM CDT
Updated Jun 15, 2012 3:32 PM CDT

President Obama surely expected that his decision to make it easier for younger illegal immigrants to stay in the country wouldn't play well on the right. But he probably didn't expect to confront that criticism in the middle of his Rose Garden announcement. As ABC News notes, Neil Munro from the Daily Caller interrupted Obama's statement, at one point shouting out, "Why do you favor foreigners over American workers?" A clearly annoyed Obama admonished Munro for interrupting and shot back that his executive order loosening deportation rules "was the right thing to do." (They had two back-and-forths during the statement.)

Tommy Christopher at Mediaite called it a "remarkable display of unprofessionalism" on Munro's part. Munro himself said in a statement afterward that he shouted out only because he thought Obama was finishing his statement and the president "rarely takes questions." His Daily Caller boss, Tucker Carlson, defended him: “I don’t remember Diane Sawyer scolding her colleague Sam Donaldson for heckling President Reagan," he said. "A reporter’s job is to ask questions and get answers. Our job is to find out what the federal government is up to. Politicians often don’t want to tell us. A good reporter gets the story. We’re proud of Neil Munro.” (For more on Obama's defense of his executive order, see AP.)

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