CBS correspondent Major Garrett is not sorry.
Garrett, who has faced mounting criticism ― and some praise ― in the press for asking President Barack Obama if he was “content” to let four American prisoners languish in Iranian jail at the conclusion of nuclear negotiations, has responded to the controversy in an interview with CBS, saying his question had clearly “struck a nerve.”
“Was it provocative? Yes. Was it intended to be as such? Absolutely,” Garrett said. “Sometimes you have to take a president’s scolding, if that’s the best way to characterize it, in order to get to an answer like that. That’s part of my job.”
“My skin’s plenty tough enough, and I look forward to the next press conference,” he added.
On Wednesday, Garrett took the president to task at a White House press conference. “As you well know, there are four Americans in Iran, three held on trumped-up charges, according to your administration,” Garrett said. “Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content, with all the fanfare around this deal, to leave the conscious of this nation, the strength of this nation, unaccounted for in relation to these four Americans?”
The president rebuffed the accusation. “I’ve got to give you credit, Major, for how you craft those questions,” Obama said. “The notion that I am content, as I celebrate, with American citizens languishing in Iranian jails? Major, that’s nonsense. And you should know better.”
Watch the original encounter below.