Weigel

Disgruntled Republicans Livetweet Obama’s Closed-Door Speech

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President Barack Obama leaves the U.S. Capitol after a meeting with the House Republican Conference March 13, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Photo by Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images

The typical way to report on a House Republican conference meeting is to wait until the off-the-record affair is over and prod members for details. That was less useful today. Members, reacting to the president’s offer of a Q&A, livetweeted the whole thing. It started as they walked in.
Screen shot 2013-03-13 at 4.37.38 PM It continued with some predictions. Screen shot 2013-03-13 at 4.38.11 PM The first question that animated the room? Screen shot 2013-03-13 at 4.47.03 PM Screen shot 2013-03-13 at 4.47.37 PM Screen shot 2013-03-13 at 4.47.47 PM At this point, Rep. Jeff Duncan tweeted a photo of his vantage point. After this, Republicans started responding, with shock, to the president’s recitation of his budget stance. Keeping the GDP-debt ratio stable was a goal; balancing the budget in a hurry wasn’t. Screen shot 2013-03-13 at 4.47.56 PM Screen shot 2013-03-13 at 4.48.14 PM Screen shot 2013-03-13 at 4.48.23 PM Republicans (specifically, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana) asked about the Keystone pipeline. Again, Obama restated the administration’s position. Again, there was shock.
Screen shot 2013-03-13 at 4.48.49 PM And it ended, like everything else today, with Pope jokes. Screen shot 2013-03-13 at 4.49.05 PM