After Friday night’s presidential press conference, even one of the left’s favorite conservatives is scratching his head at President Barack Obama’s demeanor.
New York Times columnist David Brooks, who once praised Obama for the crease in his pants, said he was upset with Obama for being angry in public in an appearance on PBS’s “NewsHour” on Friday night.
“Shambles, a complete meltdown, apparently,” Brooks said. “I’ve never seen a presidential press conference with the president so angry in public. And you know, I sort of think he’s maybe mostly right on substance. He laid out apparently in the next few hours they are he going to be laying out the details of what the White House offer was. And there was a lot of revenue cuts, there was some spending cuts, there was entitlement cuts, revenue increase. So if those are real, then I think it was a pretty good deal. But the president’s tone of being the only adult in Washington, everyone else is a child, that he’s going to summon people to the White House as if they are kindergarteners, even if you agree on the substance, it’s kind of hard to go along with someone who is insulting you all the time. And so I think the president took a big risk. Maybe we will see his tone as he is giving it to them. He’s angry. He’s treating them like children. But a lot of people will take a look at it and say there’s a little arrogance and self-superiority there.”
Brooks has been hard on the GOP for its partisanship and called the deal that had been offered “a mother of no-brainers” in a column earlier this week. But this time he blasted Obama for his demeanor.
“I had been going in thinking there was a 10 or 20 percent chance [of default],” Brooks said. “Now I move that up to 30 or so. I will still say it’s likely but I think it’s entirely likely. The atmosphere now which we saw today is so poisonous. I think the Republicans have been way too rigid on substantive grounds. But if you are going to have a negotiation, there has to be a set of demeanors. You have to get people to want to help you. And if you insult them continually well it makes it hard even if you have the substance on your side and I think the president did nobody any favors with this press conference. I wish they had said you’re hot right now. Have a press conference tomorrow.”
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