In The News

By JOSIAH RYAN       
After British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, lawmakers told CNSNews.com they were unsure if the Obama administration had “snubbed” Brown – as several British newspapers reported Tuesday – but said that as the leader of America’s closest ally, Brown should have been treated with the utmost courtesy.
 
British newspapers covering Brown’s visit to Washington, D.C., reported Tuesday that the White House had snubbed Brown by canceling a live Rose Garden press conference and omitting state dinners and receptions that are traditional events for visiting foreign dignitaries.
 
“I am sure he was shown the proper amount of hospitality,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), told CNSNews.com. “I am sure the president had his reasons [for canceling the press conference and omitting a formal dinner] though I am not very well acquainted with international protocol or how the president hosted Prime Minister Brown.”
 
“I think the reception that counts is not simply the formality of the White House but the reception here [in the Capitol], and it was fantastic,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who also told CNSNews.com he was unaware of reports that the White House had snubbed Brown.
 
The Independent, a British newspaper, headlined a story Tuesday, “Brown Faces Humiliation after Obama Snub.”
 
“The joint presser is usually a given on these trips, so this is odd,” wrote Benedict Brogan, who blogged about Brown’s trip for The Daily Mail. "It may be the White House wants to avoid the bunfight that must come with Mr. Obama's every appearance. But no press conference? Embarrassing.”
 
“Snow Scuppers Brown’s Hopes in DC,” The Financial Times said in a headline.
 
But, according to a BBC report on Tuesday, No. 10 Downing Street dismissed allegations that the White House had been inhospitable to Brown – and the White House claimed that the formal press conference, originally planned to take place outdoors, had been moved indoors because of “snow.”
 
Instead, Brown and Obama fielded reporters’ questions in a taped session known as a “pool spray” in the Oval Office.
 
In Brown’s 2007 visit to the United States, his first visit as prime minister, Bush invited him to Camp David where the leaders met for hours and addressed the media in a joint press conference.
 
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who shared a close relationship with Bush, also received a warm welcome from President Clinton, who ordered a 19-gun salute to mark Blair’s 1998 visit.
 
During Brown’s latest visit, there was no formal dinner or reception, though Obama and Brown shared a “working lunch” in the Old Family Dining Room at the White House on Tuesday.
 
Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) told CNSNews.com that while he had not heard Fleet Street’s complaints against the White House, he hoped the White House had “rolled out the red carpet” for the prime minister.
 
“I am not aware of what hospitality was or was not extended by the Obama administration, but I do know that when you have the leader of a foreign nation, especially such a great ally – even if you disagree with him so profoundly as I do – you still treat him with courtesy, and you roll out the red carpet,” Gohmert told CNSNews.com.
 
“I am hoping that the British media are wrong and that the Obama administration did roll out the red carpet,” said Gohmert.
 
Gohmert added, however, that the British media are not always mistaken. 
 
“Even as badly skewed as the British media often is, sometimes they do get things right,” he said. “This could be one of those cases.”