Back and Forth with Jon Kyl
[Guest post by DRJ]
Allahpundit at Hot Air reports Arizona Senator Jon Kyl is backtracking on his “He said, He said” immigration dispute with President Obama:
“Kyl adds that President Obama is still “not doing enough” to secure the borders. Kyl, of course, had a small spat with the White House last week over comments he made at a town-hall meeting. Kyl, responding to a voter’s question, detailed a recent one-on-one conversation he had with the president. “They are holding [border security] hostage” over hopes for comprehensive immigration reform, Kyl said at the forum.
Kyl tells us that the comments were “taken a bit out of context,” and that the “they” he was referring to was the Left, “the president’s base,” and not the administration. “I did not try to start a fight. This meeting happened a month ago and we were talking in the context of his political problems. He was talking about how they think that if we secure the border, you guys [Republicans] won’t have the incentive to work on comprehensive immigration reform.”
Are we really supposed to believe President Obama wants to secure the border but his base won’t let him?
— DRJ
The lefties are crowing about this but I don’t see the issue. Maybe the implication that Obama baldly told him that was a stretch but I am still confident that something like that was said.
Mike K (8df289) — 6/25/2010 @ 4:17 pmArizona senators are probably better suited for wheel-spinning/price tag revealing bimbo jobs on the Price is Right.
Is that show still on?
happyfeet (71f55e) — 6/25/2010 @ 4:18 pmthen what j*bs are Illinois Senators better suited for?
certainly its been awhile since “President” was on the list of possibilities.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 6/25/2010 @ 4:55 pmI thought Kyl had been pretty firm on what he meant, and did not back down when a WH spokesman contested his claim.
Either Obama said it or he didn’t, and Kyl either understood it or he didn’t.
If he misunderstood a face to face with the President, then I’ve lost confidence in him.
If he understood the President correctly and is now backing off for anything short of a gun to his head, then I’ve lost confidence in him.
I’m not talking the “purity” and “principle” nonsense, I’m talking about can you say what you mean and mean what you say. Everybody makes mistakes and can fess-up to them and maintain reputation, weaseling about stuff, sorry.
It really shouldn’t be this hard about this, and yes, the idea that Obama feels inhibited from doing what he wants to do because of someone else’s opinion just does not ring true. I hope Kyl doesn’t plan on running for anything other than reelection in his state.
MD in Philly (5a98ff) — 6/25/2010 @ 5:06 pm“The lefties are crowing about this”
The lefties will crow about anything to take the focus off the oil spill, ObamaCare, the economy, Israel, Iran, Afghanistan,……….
You get the picture.
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 6/25/2010 @ 5:08 pmThis from a couple of days ago when Kyl was standing by his story. The wobble comes at the end. Right there I knew he was wiggling.
This morning, a White House spokesman told ABC News that Kyl is lying. “The President didn’t say that and Senator Kyl knows it,” communications director Dan Pfeiffer told ABC. “There are more resources dedicated toward border security today than ever before, but, as the President has made clear, truly securing the border will require a comprehensive solution to our broken immigration system.”
Gazzer (dd9e24) — 6/25/2010 @ 5:22 pmNow, in an interview with KVOI radio in Arizona, Kyl says his account of the Oval Office conversation is accurate. “What I said occurred did occur,” Kyl said.
“One way you can verify the validity of what I said is that that’s exactly their position,” Kyl continued. “Some spokesman down at the White House said no, that isn’t what happened at all, and then proceeded to say we need comprehensive immigration reform to secure the border. That is their position, and all I was doing was explaining why, from a conversation with the president, why it appears that that’s their position.”
His use of the word “appears” was a red flag to, and I say this sadly as he is my Senator.