Two days after Anderson Cooper described President Barack Obama as the "adult" in a room of unruly Republicans, Obama reportedly stormed out of a heated discussion on debt negotiations yesterday due to his frustration with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
Also yesterday came a stern reminder from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that the president has repeatedly listened to the concerns of Congress but that "nobody can out debate him." Check out a video of Pelosi's remarks after the break, and let us know what you think of Obama's actions in the comments.
According to Politico, the debt negotiation drama came after a bitter debate between Obama and Cantor.
“He shoved back and said ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’ and walked out,”House Majority Leader Eric Cantor(R-Va.) told reporters in the Capitol after the meeting. [...]
When Cantor said the two sides were too far apart to get a deal that could pass the House by the Treasury Department’s Aug. 2 deadline — and that he would consider moving a short-term debt-limit increase alongside smaller spending cuts — Obama began to lecture him.
“Eric, don’t call my bluff,” the president said, warning Cantor that he would take his case “to the American people.” He told Cantor that no other president — not Ronald Reagan, the president said — would sit through such negotiations.
Democratic sources dispute Cantor’s version of Obama’s walk out, but all sides agree that the two had a blow up. The sources described Obama as “impassioned” but said he didn’t exactly storm out of the room.
A Democratic aide furthered the Anderson Cooper line in regards to Cantor, saying, "This is just more juvenile behavior from him and Boehner needs to rein him in, and let the grown-ups get to work.”
While the two accounts of Obama's exit from the room don't quite match up, both are in contradiction to Pelosi's remarks that Obama has been incredibly patient in listening to the concerns of Congress.
What are your thoughts on Obama's actions and the Democratic approval of them?
