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Governor's new book tells different story about meeting with President Obama then what she said at the time

By Howard Fischer

Phoenix, AZ – Brewer went to the White House last year, after she signed SB 1070, touted as the toughest law in the nation aimed at illegal immigrants, but before the Obama administration went to court to block it. The governor painted this picture of the meeting after she came out.

(We just completed our meeting this afternoon. It was a very cordial discussion of what's taking place in Arizona and dealing with the security of our border and illegal immigration into the state of Arizona and into America.)

But in an interview with Arizona Public radio, Brewer, reading from her new book Scorpions for Breakfast, sketches quite a different scene.

(If he knew about the escalating levels of violence, the kidnappings, the drop houses, the home invasions, the spotters, the drug mules, he didn't give any indication. It was though President Obama thought he could lecture me. And I would learn at his knee. He was patronizing. He understood that we were frustrated. He said, heck yes, we're all frustrated. But he didn't seem interested in knowing why. Then it dawned on me. He was treating me like the cop he had over for a beer after he bad-mouthed the Cambridge police. I thought, he thinks he can humor me and then get rid of me.)

Brewer said she did not lie. The meeting WAS cordial -- to the extent that she and the president were not yelling and screaming at each other.

(But it was a pretty one-sided conversation. I mean, he was, I believe, condescending. And he was lecturing me about what we were going to do and how we were going to do it.)

But the governor said she decided to hold her tongue, at least at the time.

(I believe it is because I was promised that he would get back with me, get in contact with me within two weeks. And I would have a report. And that we would be able to move forward from that point. I had this opportunity to sit with him, to listen to him. And I thought that after our conversation that, possibly, there was hope. Maybe I was naive. That obviously didn't happen.)

In her interview, Brewer acknowledged that the criticisms in her book over border policies are aimed almost solely at Obama. There is no mention of shortcomings by some Republican predecessors.

(A lot of things got left out of the books because we were trying to tell the story of 1070 and the issue at hand. But I've been on record saying when President Reagan tried to do what he did, he unfortunately didn't deliver on the promise. The bottom line is, he granted amnesty to 3 or 4 million people. And never were our borders secured.)

Also left out was the governor's belief that President George W. Bush never cracked down on illegal immigration because he believed businesses needed the help. For the record, the White House had no comment about her book. For Arizona Public Radio this is Howard Fischer.