Obama Spars With Reporter In Feisty Interview On Immigration

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barack obama fusion

Fusion

President Barack Obama, right, with journalist Jorge Ramos.

President Barack Obama and Univision anchor Jorge Ramos repeatedly talked over one another in a testy interview that aired Tuesday night.

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"Jorge. We're not. No. Listen, Jorge. Jorge. … But let me say this Jorge. No, no, no. That is not true. Listen. Here's the fact of the matter. Jorge, here's the fact of the matter," Obama said at one point.

Obama and Ramos were debating the president's November executive order that will shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. Ramos, like many of Obama's conservative critics, pointed to his past statements where the president appeared to admit he didn't have the legal authority to take executive action on immigration. Obama was also fiercely criticized by reform advocates earlier in the year for backing off a self-imposed deadline for executive action on immigration reform by the end of summer.

Obama, who repeatedly addressed Ramos by his first name, insisted those past statements were about far more expansive reform.

"As president of the United States, I'm always responsible for problems that are not solved right away," Obama said. "Those, like you sometimes Jorge, who suggest that there are simple, quick answers to these problems."

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Ramos interrupted.

"I never said that," he said.

"Yes you do!" Obama countered as the two continued to try and talk over one another. "Because that's how you present it. And I think that when you present it in that way, it does a disservice because it makes the assumption that the political process is one that can easily be moved around depending on the will of one person."

Obama concluded by challenging Ramos to report accurately and completely on the subject.

"And so the question I have for you Jorge - because you're going to have a big voice - is: Are you going to do a good job in, now that we've taken these actions, making sure that people understand what their opportunities are," he said.

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View the full interview below.