Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller, a radical right wing Internet broadsheet, minutes ago announced they are “very proud” of their reporter, Neil Munro, who heckled President Obama during his announcement of his new DREAM immigration policy.
While the President was speaking, Munro shouted out, “Why’d you favor foreigners over Americans?,” to which president Obama replied, “Excuse me, sir, but it’s not time for questions.”
“Are you going to take questions?,” Munro continued. “Not while I’m speaking,” the President, somewhat angrily, replied.
Politico called it “a surprising breach of normal etiquette,” adding:
While it’s not unusual for Obama to be interrupted by occasional hecklers at big public events, the fact that a reporter brought Obama’s speech to complete halt startled members of the White House press corp.
Obama, generally ignores shouted questions from reporters at the end of press events, later addressed Munro’s question after finishing his remarks uninterrupted.
“In answer to your question, sir – and the next time I’d prefer you’d let me finish my statement before you ask that question – is this is the right thing to do for the American people,” Obama told Munro.
Mobbed by reporters after the event, Murno was asked if he would give his name.
“Yeah, but you’ll misspell it,“ he said.
Munro, according to his Twitter bio, has worked as a reporter for Defense News, Washington Technology, and the National Journal.
“As a general matter, reporters are there to ask [questions],” Carlson told the New York Times’ Brian Stelter. Carlson did not immediately respond to a question from POLITICO.
Later, Politico added:
Tucker Carlson, editor of the conservative political site The Daily Caller, is defending the reporter who heckled President Obama at today’s Rose Garden address on immigration.
“Yes, that was TheDC’s Neil Munro who dared question the president in the Rose Garden,” Carlson tweeted. “Everyone’s defying precedent today, it seems.”
“This is what reporters are supposed to do,” he later told the Huffington Post. “They’re supposed to get their questions answered.”
The Daily Caller is known for unprofessional stunts. Last month, they announced they are giving away one gun every week until election day.
Highlighting an anti-gay or anti-trans joke by the Daily Caller, Media Matters noted in late 2010:
When The Daily Caller launched with $3 million in seed money from Republican financier Foster Freiss, the GOP donor said: “Tucker and Neil [Patel] present a huge opportunity to re-introduce civility to our political discourse. They are mature, sensible men who are very thoughtful and experienced with pleasant senses of humor and do not take themselves too seriously. They want to make a contribution to the dialogue that occurs in our country that has become too antagonistic, nasty and hostile.”