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Photographer Claims AZ Gov. Jan Brewer ‘Slugged’ a Reporter After He Asked Her About Manmade Global Warming

Dec. 6, 2012 8:14am Billy Hallowell

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has known her fair share of controversy. From furor surrounding her state’s immigration policy to an infamous clash with President Barack Obama, the politician isn’t afraid to hunker down and defend herself against detractors. In her latest spat, Brewer is being accused of getting a little too frustrated after a reporter asked her about global warming over the weekend — so angry, in fact, that she allegedly “slugged” the journalist.

The video of her interaction with KTVK-TV’s Dennis Welch has understandably gone viral. In the clip, after being asked about her view on man-made global warming (Brewer doesn’t believe that human beings are responsible), the governor responded to Welch, saying, “where in the hell did that come from,” clearly referencing his question.

Jan Brewer Allegedly Slugged KTVK TVs Dennis Welch | Global Warming

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (Photo Credit: AP)

Gawker, taking all of this into account, notes that the story didn’t end there. A media blog called Romanesko apparently received an e-mail from a local newspaper photographer, highlighting other events that purportedly unfolded once the cameras stopped rolling.

West Valley View’s Michael Clawson told the blog that the governor hit Welch after he asked, “do you believe that global warming is caused by man?” Here’s Clawson’s description of what occurred:

After her answer, a handler swooped in and whisked her away, but about three paces out she turned back around to face the reporter who asked the last question. He had turned to a camera operator and seemed to be putting his microphone away. Brewer took her left hand, balled it into a fist and with the back of her hand she slugged the reporter on the back of his right arm. Not hard, but with enough force that he spun around to see what was going on. She leaned in real close and looked up (she’s a shorter lady) and said in a whisper loud enough for most of us to hear, “Where the hell’d that come from?” I was there taking still pictures for a newspaper so I don’t have the exact dialogue, but he said he thought the question was appropriate. She was shaking her head, saying that the conference was about energy, not global warming, and she seemed to be perturbed that she would be asked her opinion about something. The reporter shrugged his shoulders and said again that he thought the question was fair. Brewer seemed upset, but as she walked away she cracked a smile, probably the same smile she gave Obama after the finger wag.

Anyway, it was funny and kinda surreal.

Watch the news report, during which the controversial exchange unfolded (you can see Brewer’s reaction to the question):

While some may dismiss the photographer’s claims as an embellishment of what unfolded, when Romanesko forwarded the account to Welch, the reporter responded, “I’d say this is a fair and accurate account.”

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Comments (81)

Calamity Jane
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:40am
“Photographer Claims…….”

This entire story doesn’t speak well of the photographer’s abilities. As a photojournalist, his job is to record events. Simply put……..NO PICTURE=NO STORY………NO PICTURE=IT NEVER HAPPENED

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- rickc34
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:56am
  Sounds like a bunch of manure. If she did …did he cry? Did he go home and tell his mommy about the mean lady…
  
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- jkjk
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 10:23am
  Good! She should have busted his lip!
  
  Report this comment
- johngarrett911
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 10:30am
  You want proof? ******** don’t need no stinking proof! They don’t have to prove their a U.S. citizen to receive welfare or to be here legally. They don’t have to prove their a registered voter to vote. So how can you expect ******** to prove they aren’t lying?
  
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- kenboo1
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 11:03am
  First, if Jan hit anyone full force it would be nothing more than a love tap… Second in response the climatologist who was interviewed stated the issue has become politicized… No kidding!!! This is a subject that has reached into the tax payers pockets… That’s why it is politicized… Academia wants more money to study climate change.. They ask the government for grants and low and behold some new danger is found that needs to be studied more so academia wants more money… This cycle never ends… It has made Al Gore a rich man on government dole…
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 11:14am
  “Photographer claims”…but for some reason..didn’t photograph. End of story.
  
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- Bloody Sam
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 12:03pm
  There is a picture and video. What the photog describes is not a “slug”.
  It was nothing more that a tap to get a person’s attention. Watch the video again.
  Watch her hand right before she says, “Where the heck did that come from?…”
  This story is so ridiculously overblown.
  
  Report this comment
- Secret Squirrel
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 12:28pm
  Waaaaa,waaaaaaaaa.
  The mean lady touched me!
  
  She should have slugged him for real.
  
  Report this comment
- Myth
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 12:43pm
  “Photographer claims” is correct and goes to show, once again, how much you cannot trust the media. Watching the video proves he’s lying when he claims she “punched” him. She tapped him to get his attention, not punched him. Another LIE. Just like NBC and ABC doctored tapes of Zimmerman. LIAR. LIAR. LIAR.
  
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- redfish52
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 12:51pm
  This falls in the same category as the non-existing film of Tea Party People allegedly calling House members the “N” word….never happened.
  
  Report this comment
- Joe_The_Patriot
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 1:33pm
  climatologist… What a joke… they can’t even forecast the weather correctly on a daily basis, You mean to tell me they know what the weather is going to be 10, 20, 100 years from now…. COME ON!!!
  
  Report this comment
- G-WHIZ
  Posted on December 7, 2012 at 1:09pm
  “Aunt” Jannet should have used her knuckles…not her hand-back!! My 5’6″-mother would have knocked him across the lawn…then grabbed her walker and walked back home.
  
  Report this comment
cassandra
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:34am
this is just a bunch of political bunk so the UN can take more control over nations mostly the US this is about POWER and CONTROL the earth has been warming and cooling for thousands of years before there was cars and industry, the true scientist have proven this by exposing Al Gore and his lies with his propaganda film that they show to kids in school, they keep changing their spin when ever the weather dosen’t go long with their lies first it was the ice age then it was global warming they can’t even keep their lies straight

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toomuchgovt
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:14am
Oh Thank you Gov. Brewer. Yeah yeah Violence is never the answer, but if only these libs were spanked by their parents we wouldn’t have all these spoiled, self absorbed adults.

When a hollywoodite slaps one, they have a “reason”. When a conservative slaps one all heck breaks out. Nope what is good for thes goose is good for the gander. Good for Jan.

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- angeleyes63
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:38am
  Yeah this ******** need a daily beating to make up for the total lack of discipline during their formidable years.
  
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- YouCantExplainThat
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 10:40am
  @angeleyes63
  
  Well if they were formidable then I certainly think one would have a hard time time laying a hand on them.
  
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RDMercer
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:11am
More Liberals should get slugged. They should get slugged every single time they bring up the man made warming BS. They should be slugged every time they step out of their house just on principal for wrecking our nation.

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- angeleyes63
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 4:14pm
  @RDMERCER
  It might knock some sense into them but I doubt it.
  
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SquidVetOhio
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:10am
Jan Brewer 2016

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- Irememberamerica
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:23am
  I have been saying that ditto again!
  Jan Brewer run 2016, or head up the states that have had enough!
  
  A leader for sure, with just the right amount of the old west
  simmering underneath. Eyes wide open, and at the ready.
  
  Report this comment
BlackCrow
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:09am
Should have cracked him over the head with a 2×4.

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Rashomon
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:08am
the left turned that nudge into a slug like they turned summer temps into a global disaster. Lib males hold their fingers slightly apart and call it 12 inches.

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OldSurfRat
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:05am
Yes virginia there is a Santa Claus.

Thanks for the early Christmas Gift Jan.

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UNALIEN
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:05am
Marxist media trying to create create news rather than report it… as usual

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- MDECKER
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 10:46am
  Start stripping the Press Creds from these so-called journalists and then see how the news is reported. The President has been selective in his Press, why shouldn’t the Right do the same?
  
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AbrahamsSheepdog
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:55am
Good! The Salazar crime family bully the media. That’s the guy who deserves a nudge. Fake onion cowboy sells mustangs for slaughtering. Chicago cowboy yellow belly punk.

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repairsea
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:55am
The reporter should be arrested for elder abuse.

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scrapadapolis
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:54am
OOO a friendly stop nudge.Photo queer.

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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:52am
She had just returned home to AZ from visiting wounded AZ-veterans while in DC; and then some idiot journalist of the left asks a lamebrain question on the leftist-farce of ‘global warming.’

SHE SHOULD HAVE DECKED HIM TWICE!!!

She goes to check in on veterans and is asked a stupid and insulting question.

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blackbean
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:50am
Her aim was too low, or too high. Take your pick. LOL

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- taintso
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 11:14am
  I am sure that both heads are empty.
  
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DZ-015
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:48am
Let’s see if this wuss files a battery charge against her. Sounds like she was just trying to gain his attention.

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T-2
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:48am
I don’t konw if I would admint to being “slugged” by Gov. Brewer. What a pansy.

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patriot4ever
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:43am
The pussification of the press…can’t handle being nudged by a woman? Grow a pair, you freekin’ slaw-jawed excuse for a photographer.

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- CABERNETQHS
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:47am
  Wow, I hope that elderly ladie didn’t hurt anyone!!!
  
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americansfightingforcommonsense
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:42am
That is what we call a “Nudge”!

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rikyt74
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:41am
Proud to be from Arizona.You go girl!!

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xendude
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:37am
Warm period between two ice ages ask any geologist.

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- AbrahamsSheepdog
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:01am
  Yup. Spot on. EPA propaganda, pushed by $ hungry globalist & muppet media.
  
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- booger71
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:16am
  Your right Xen, I obtained by Geology degree in the 70′s when the naysayers were convinced we were headed into another ice age then. The fossil and geologic record tells no lies.
  
  Report this comment
barber2
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:37am
Sounds like a revamping of the old radical lefty MIC checks. They pick a target, and then harass until they create an ” incident.” Not surprised they target a conservative. Glitter bombers . Harassing and intimidating seem to be the standard operating tactics of our ” organized” Chicago radicals and their lefty media side-kicks. Remember the ACORN bull-horns in bankers front yards ? Everyone is fair game today: bankers, conservative FEMALE governors , Wall Street workers, conservative male governors…Am sure during Obama II we will see even more bullying than during Obama I. He and his radical Chicago crowd think he is now King and with the help of their trusty Lap Dog Media, they will , no doubt, view harassment and intimidation to be one of their electoral ” spoils.” Sort of punk meets Chicago politics. A very bad Obama ” change” for America.

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HKS
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:32am
Anyone falling for that line of crap needs to be slapped, justice served.

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starman70
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:31am
Too bad she didn’t shove his camera up in the place where the sun will never shine.

The idiotic reporters who have bought into the fabricated lie that mankind has caused “Global Warming” need to be taught a lesson. The earth has gone through periods of natural waming and cooling ever since it was created and will continue to do so until its eventual demise. This “Global Warming” fabrication is just a plan to milk billions of dollars from governments and corporations, just to enrich a few professors and the likes of Al Gore.

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- Dr Vel
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:07am
  I especially like the artistic reworking of several graphs on Wiki (more than one page) showing a sudden temperature rise since 2004, so rapid the Sun would have to be going supernova. Someone altered the graphs with obvious forgery and then re-uploaded the images. Not even the same ink it is so obvious. All to keep the lie in the public mindset as well as give them ‘proof’ to point to,
  
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coachsmac
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:28am
She should have knocked his ass out!!! Clearly a set up question, as she was on a photo shoot not a press conference!!

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toiletclogga
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:18am
She hit the back of his arm? This isn’t a punch. Gotcha journalism to make Governor Brewer look bad. That’s all it is. These lefty journalists are the biggest ***** cowards!

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- smokeyridgerunner
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:27am
  I think he said more that pissed her off ,just like most reporters do.
  
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- toiletclogga
  Posted on December 6, 2012 at 8:37am
  Yup, provocation!
  
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