Obama to Conyers: Stop 'Demeaning' Me

John Conyers hasn't been shy about what he sees as the president's failings, and his remarks seem to have struck a nerve. “I’ve been saying I don’t agree with him on Afghanistan, I think he screwed up on health care reform, on Guantánamo," said the long-serving liberal congressman. “Obama called me and told me that he heard that I was demeaning him, and I had to explain to him that it wasn't anything personal, it was an honest difference on the issues."

The president asked to talk about those differences, but Conyers, steaming after the announcing of the new deployments to Afghanistan, tells the Hill he wasn't in the mood to "chat." Instead, he's expressing his criticism in writing and expects the president to respond the same way. Conyers, 80, was the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Obama over Hillary Clinton in the campaign.