Malloy, Jindal slug it out at White House press conference

Well, they couldn’t quite keep it classy for the entire National Governors’ Association get-together.

After lunching with President Obama and Vice-President Biden, the governors emerged mostly in a harmonious frame of mind _ but Louisiana Republican Bobby Jindal stirred things up when he stood at the “stakeout” outside the briefing room and ripped the Obama administration for trying to raise the federal minimum wage.

Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy responds to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (second from left) at White House press conference. (Getty)

Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy responds to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (second from left) at White House press conference. (Getty)

Jindal said that if Obama were serious about growing the economy, he’d simply sign off on the Keystone XL pipeline instead of “raising the white flag of surrender … the Obama economy is now the minimum-wage economy. I think we can do better than that.”

“That’s the most insane statement I’ve ever heard,” Connecticut Democrat Dannel Malloy snapped as the cameras took in the exchange live. “Until a few moments ago we were going down a pretty cooperative road.”

He added that Jindal’s statement was the most partisan he’d heard at the conference.

“Let me just say we don’t all agree that moving Canadian oil through the United States is necessarily the best thing for the United States economy,” Malloy added with some asperity.

Jindal doubled down, saying, “If that’s the most partisan thing he’s heard all weekend, I want to make sure he’s heard an even more partisan statement: I think we could grow the economy more if we delayed more of these Obamacare mandates.”

John Hickenlooper, Democratic governor of Colorado, called Jindal “a cheap shot artist” after the exchange with Malloy.

 

 

 

David McCumber, Washington Bureau Chief