The White House feud with liberal members of Congress over trade showed no sign of dissipating one day after a Democratic revolt blocked progress on a major trade bill.
Presidential press secretary Josh Earnest Wednesday doubled down on his expectation that Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, will apologize to President Obama over claims that Obama’s ongoing feud with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was partly motivated by sexism.
Brown on Tuesday told reporters that Obama’s criticism of Warren was “disrespectful” and the fact that he called her by her first name, rather than by her title of senator or her full name in a recent comment, suggests a former of gender bias.
Earnest rejected both characterizations.
“There are a number of instances when the president has used the first name of a senator in both public and private settings, including multiple times he has referred to Sherrod,” he said. “I don’t put a lot of stock in the argument … that’s why I believe that Sen. Brown will want to offer up an apology because he’s a stand-up guy.”
Earlier Wednesday, Earnest in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” made a similar point, noting that he’s “confident” Brown “will find a way to apologize.”
When it comes to objections over the president’s comment that Warren acted as a politician, Earnest dismissed that criticism as well.
“The president in the interview was asked directly about Sen. Warren and he noted that she holds elected office like the president does,” he said. “I think that’s an indication that she is making a political argument and the president is making a political argument too.
“There may be differences on this one issue but [Obama] continues to have confidence that he has a strong working relationship with Democrats on Capitol Hill,” he added.
