Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) on Tuesday defended his comments to a rotary club meeting last week when he appeared to be mocking his fellow Republicans for their reluctance to move on the immigration issue. "You tease the ones you love," Boehner said during a GOP presser.
Boehner then said that an immigration deal would not occur until President Obama proves he will properly enforce laws that Congress passes without altering it like he’s done with Obamacare.
"The biggest impediment we have in moving immigration reform is the American people don’t trust the president to enforce or implement the law that we may or may not pass," Boehner told reporters.
The entire exchange is available below:
Q: Mr. Speaker, we understand that you clarified your comments on immigration reform inside the meeting. Number one, do you regret mocking your own members last week? And as we (stay ?) here today --
SPEAKER BOEHNER: Whoa, whoa, whoa. It was no mocking. Listen, you all know me. You know, I -- you tease the ones you love, right? But some people misunderstood what I had to say, and I wanted to make sure the members understood that the biggest impediment we have in the -- moving immigration reform is that the American people don't trust the president to enforce or implement the law that we may or may not pass. It's a -- I said it here. It's the truth. And our members know it's the truth.
Q: As we (stay ?) here, is there going to be a vote on any immigration reform bill before you guys leave -- (inaudible) --
SPEAKER BOEHNER: Listen, we continue to work with our members. We all know we have a broken immigration system. We're going to continue to work with our members and have discussions and to see if there's a way forward. But the president has to take action himself. He's got to show the American people and show the Congress that he can be trusted to implement the law the way it may be passed.