President Barack Obama got testy and reportedly snapped at two Democrats during a Wednesday meeting on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY) asked Obama about a loan guarantee application from a company in his district that has been “stuck in the final approval stages.” According to CNN, “one Democratic source in the room said Maloney began his question by recognizing it was an issue that may be better discussed on the staff level, rather than with the president.”
In a “rude and dismissive” manner, Obama reportedly answered, “You’re right. You should have talked to staff about this.” Obama then reportedly “said in a testy way to Maloney that at least now he can go back and tell his constituents he stood up to the president for them.”
CNN reported that sources said Obama was “unnecessarily unkind when responding to Maloney’s question.”
Obama also reportedly lashed out at Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) when he suggested Larry Summers would be a bad choice to head the Federal Reserve. The President reportedly blasted liberal outlets like the Huffington Post for saying Summers was not liberal enough to head the Fed.
Regarding Obama’s exchange with Maloney, White House press secretary Jay Carney said he believed Obama was not testy.
“The president was very appreciative of the question,” Carney said.
Carney continued:
The question got into specifics about a program and I think the president not only said that his staff would follow up on it, he guaranteed that the president’s staff would follow up on it. And he was very glad to see the interest in these kinds of programs that was expressed by the congressman.
In response, Maloney said, “I asked the President for a commitment to prioritize a local jobs project, and I got it. I appreciate the President’s responsiveness.” Maloney was reportedly not offended.