Jan Brewer 'Slugged' Reporter for Question on Global Warming
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer allegedly punched a reporter after he asked her a question about global warming before leaving on a trip to Afghanistan. Brewer is known for getting in people's faces when necessary to get their attention; this is only the latest incident.
During a press conference about energy issues, 3TV reporter Dennis Welch asked the governor a question about whether she thought global warming was man-made. "Everybody has an opinion on it, you know, and I probably don't believe that it's man-made," she answered guardedly, according to the Huffington Post.
As she walked away, Brewer apparently had something else to add and, to get Welch's attention, "took her left hand, balled it into a fist and with the back of her hand she slugged the reporter on the back of his right arm. Not hard, but with enough force that he spun around to see what was going on," photographer Michael Clawson told Romanesko blog.
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"Where in the hell did that come from?" Brewer asked Welch.
"She was shaking her head, saying that the conference was about energy, not global warming, and she seemed to be perturbed that she would be asked her opinion about something," Clawson added.
The two then parted ways for good, but the story has stuck with Brewer, adding to her image as an in-your-face politician. She famously wagged her finger at President Obama as soon as he landed in Arizona. The interaction, Brewer explained, was about her book, "Scorpions for Breakfast."
"He was a little disturbed about my book … I said to him that I have all the respect in the world for the office of the president. The book is what it is. I asked him if he read the book. He said he read the excerpt," Brewer told reporters.
What made Obama upset, according to Brewer?
"He didn't feel that I had treated him cordially. I said I was sorry he felt that way but I didn't get my sentence finished," she said.
Instead, she ended the conversation with a stern finger-wagging that was captured for all the world to see.
