Posts Tagged ‘Neil Munro’

Daily Caller

By Nicholas Ballasy

In a video interview, The Daily Caller’s White House correspondent Neil Munro answered questions about his exchange with President Barack Obama in the Rose Garden.

“I shouldn’t be the story. The important thing is the president’s policy today, which could have a significant impact on American workers. I asked a question about that. Admittedly, it was in the middle of his speech. I thought he was ending his speech — his statement — but then I asked a question at the end and he turned his back on the reporters and walked away,” Munro said.

“Timing these things is a little awkward. He speaks very well, very smoothly — very nice delivery. It’s hard to know when he’s about to end. I thought he was going to end today. I asked my question too early. He rebuked me. Fair enough.”

Before coming to The Daily Caller, Munro worked at National Journal for over a decade. He has also reported for Defense News and Washington Technology. Judging from his experience, Munro says open press events at the White House are “well designed by the president and his staff.”

“He comes out of the Rose Garden, gives a short statement and then turns his back and walks away very quickly without taking questions,” he said. “Sometimes he takes questions. He took a question on Trayvon Martin in March. Sometimes these shouted questions at the end work — not today: He refused to answer an obvious and conventional question about the impact of his policy on American workers at a time of record unemployment.”

In the future, Munro hopes the White House will “arrange events so the reporters can ask the president or his senior staff about the important policy changes.”

Munro added that the administration normally selects which reporters are able to ask the president questions at press conferences beforehand.

“You can see the president at press conferences naming people who are to ask a question,” Munro said. “Other reporters sit around quietly not asking questions, not shouting questions because it risks their access to White House off the record comments and future chances of asking questions, but this is a very important issue. There’s no reason we should sit around and wait for another day for an answer on this important question.”

Published on Jun 15, 2012 by NewsPoliticsNow2
“Why’d you favor foreigners over Americans?” Munro shouted.

“Excuse me, sir, but it’s not time for questions,” Obama responded.

“Are you going to take questions?” Munro asked.

“Not while I’m speaking.” Obama said.

President Obama introduced his administration’s new policy granting qualified legal status to illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children in a Rose Garden statement interrupted by the heckling of a conservative reporter.

As the president, standing at a podium outside the White House, explained why he was implementing the policy, Daily Caller writer Neil Munro began to shout questions, asking why Obama would want foreigners in the country instead of giving jobs to Americans.

“It is not the time for questions. Not while I’m speaking,” the president, visibly irritated, said just five minutes into his speech.

After a pause, he continued to tout the new policy of suspending deportation actions against qualified students for two years and allowing them to instead apply for job permits. According to White House officials, those individuals would have to reapply after two years in the event Congress does not pass permanent legislation in the meantime.

Obama noted that his new policy could quickly be made permanent if Congress passed the stalled DREAM act, which would provide U.S. residency to immigrants who have a college education or served in the military.

“This is a temporary stop-gap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people,” Obama said. “Precisely because this is temporary, Congress needs to act.”

A few minutes later, the heckler started up again, allowing Obama to even more forcefully make his point as he countered the shouting.

“And the answer to your question, sir,” he began, pointing his finger from the podium directly at Munro, “– and the next time I’d prefer you let me finish my statements before you ask that question — is this is the right thing to do for the American people.”

“If there’s a young person here who has grown up here and wants to contribute to this society, wants to maybe start a business that will create jobs for other folks who are looking for work, that’s the right thing to do,” he continued, at that point seeming to speak with the dual purpose of heralding the new policy and drowning the heckler out.