President Obama ignored questions from Speaker Paul Ryan Thursday during a Twitter question-and-answer session organized by the White House.
As Mr. Obama tweeted replies to friendly questions on topics such as Obamacare and gun control on the hashtag “#AskPOTUS,” Mr. Ryan tried to get in at least two questions of his own.
“What authority do you have to close Gitmo? Even Democrats supported restrictions that you signed into law,” the Wisconsin Republican tweeted to the president. The administration announced Thursday it had transferred another 10 detainees from the Guantanamo Bay facility, to Oman.
Mr. Ryan also asked, “Mr. President, when are you going to present a plan to defeat #ISIS, as Congress has required — by law — that you do?”
Instead, Mr. Obama chose to answer questions such as this one from “ant”: “kobe, mj or lebron”?
The president replied, “love em all, but as a bulls fan got to go with mj. in baton rouge, just met lsu freshman ben simmons - will be great.”
When the session ended, Mr. Ryan tweeted, “#AskPOTUS ended without mentioning the economy, poverty, veterans, ISIS, or Iran. #Priorities”
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the president didn’t reply to the speaker, with whom he has yet to hold a face-to-face meeting, because it was “an opportunity for people across the country to ask questions.”
He said Mr. Obama typed the answers to questions that he picked from a larger group of inquiries that were “curated” by White House staff.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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