Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says she meant no disrespect when she pointed a finger at President Obama during an intense discussion on an airport tarmac. But the Republican governor says the Democratic president showed disrespect for her by abruptly ending their conversation.
The brief encounter - out of earshot of observers but captured on camera - was a highly visible demonstration of the verbal and legal skirmishing that has regularly occurred between Brewer and Obama's administration over illegal immigration and other issues.
Airport arrivals for presidents normally involve mere pleasantries between those involved, but Brewer and Obama have a history. And part of that history is what apparently got things going, according to accounts provided by Brewer and the White House.
Brewer said that during their talk, she invited Obama to visit Arizona to hear about her administration's achievements and to visit the U.S.-Mexico border, which has been a point of friction between the two over illegal immigration issues.
People are also reading…
Obama then said Brewer's recently published book mischaracterized a 2011 White House meeting between them.
On Thursday Brewer said in an interview at another Phoenix-area airport that she talks a lot with her hands and that her pointing a finger at Obama during their conversation wasn't disrespectful.
"I respect the office of the president," she said. "I was there to welcome him."
She said she was grateful for the visit and intended to talk to him about the state's accomplishments. But she said she was "taken aback by his comments" when he said he wasn't happy with how her book described their White House meeting.
Immediately after the meeting Brewer had said it was cordial, but her book said Obama lectured Brewer in the Oval Office and that she felt he was condescending toward her.
"It is what it is. I proceeded to say that to him, and he chose to walk away from me," she said Thursday.
Asked whether she regarded that as disrespectful, she replied: "Well, I would never have walked away from anybody having a conversation. And, of course, that is what it is. It is disrespectful for me."
The encounter was notable because it was rare case of an unscripted and tense moment between the president and a public official in view of reporters.
Bruce Merrill, a longtime Arizona pollster and a professor emeritus at Arizona State University, said there are two sides to the encounter, so it's hard to fully analyze what happened and why. But the incident follows past incidents in which Arizona for a time balked at declaring a state holiday to honor Martin Luther King Jr., and Arizona State University refused to award Obama an honorary degree, Merrill noted.
"It reinforces the image of Arizona being kind of a cowboy state that doesn't show a lot of respect," he said of the encounter.
Text of letter
Here is what Gov. Jan Brewer wrote in the letter she handed President Obama:
Dear Mr. President
Welcome to Arizona!
You've arrived in a state at the forefront of America's recovery - and her future. We were at the brink. We were at the bottom of the list in job creation. Today, we have a balanced budget and we're in the Top 10 for job creation.
I'm proud of that hard-won recovery - the result of many tough decisions, courage and perseverance. My hope is while you are here you will have a chance to see our tremendous results first hand.
We both love this great country, but we fundamentally disagree on how to best make America grow and prosper once again. I'd love an opportunity to share with you how we've been able to turn Arizona around with hard choices that turned out to be the right ones.
And of course, my offer to visit the border - and buy lunch - still stands!
With respect,
Jan
