Obama Gives ‘Full-Throated Defense’ Of Larry Summers In Closed Door Meeting

President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, July 19, 2013. Obama says black Americans feel pain after the Trayvon Martin verdict ... President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, July 19, 2013. Obama says black Americans feel pain after the Trayvon Martin verdict because of a "history that doesn't go away." Obama spoke in a surprise appearance Friday at the White House, his first time appearing for a statement on the verdict since it was issued last Saturday. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) MORE LESS
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President Barack Obama gave a “full-throated defense” of his possible Fed chair nominee, Larry Summers, in a closed-door meeting with House Democrats Wednesday, a lawmaker in the room told the Huffington Post.

Another lawmaker who was present in the room said the president defended Summers after Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) walked to the microphone and said “Larry Summers. Bad Choice.” The lawmaker, who was paraphrasing Obama, also recalled the president saying, “Hey, don’t talk sh*t about him because he’s actually a pretty good guy. And then he said, ‘If somebody talked sh*t about you like that, I’d defend you too,” according to the Huffington Post. The lawmaker said the president did not use the expletive. 

Two other Democrats in the room said the president also criticized the Huffington Post for turning Summers into what Obama called a “progressive whipping boy.”

Senate Democrats signaled Tuesday that Summers’ confirmation would face unlikely odds.

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