Larry Conners with KMOV in St. Louis says the IRS has been ‘hammering’ him since his interview with Obama in April, 2012. He didn’t think much of it until recent reports surfaced that the IRS is indeed targeting conservatives:
POLITICO – Larry Conners, a veteran local news anchor at KMOV Channel 4 in St. Louis, says that the Internal Revenue Service has been targeting him since an April 2012 interview he conducted with President Obama — a fact that he dismissed as coincidence until the recent reports about the IRS targeting conservative groups.
“Shortly after I did my April 2012 interview with President Obama, my wife, friends and some viewers suggested that I might need to watch out for the IRS. I don’t accept ‘conspiracy theories’, but I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me,” Connors wrote on his Facebook page late Monday night.
Connors did not specify how the IRS has been “hammering” him. He did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.
According to his account, his questions for Obama touched on the economy and spending but were not exceptional in nature. But following “allegations that the IRS focused on various groups and/or individuals questioning or criticizing government spending, taxes, debt or how the government is run,” Connors now believes there may be a possible connection.
“Can I prove it? At this time, no,” he wrote. “But it is a fact that since that April 2012 interview … the IRS has been pressuring me.”
I was curious to see his interview, just wondering if he asked anything that might have ruffled Obama’s feathers. Sure enough, he did.
He didn’t have time to ask many questions, but he did convey to the president that many of his viewers who were struggling to make ends meet were frustrated seeing the first family ‘jetting around’ to different vacations and suggested they feel he is out of touch. Obama became very defensive very quickly.
Watch:
KMOV-STL’s LARRY CONNERS: “The economy is a big issue and concern for folks. I mean, the unemployment, trying to make ends meet, gas prices, food prices going up. Some of our viewers are complaining, they get frustrated, even angered, when they see the first family jetting around, different vacations and so forth, sometimes maybe they think under color of state business and that you’re out of touch, that you don’t really know what they’re experiencing right now.”
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: “Well, I don’t know how many viewers you’re talking about that say that.”
CONNERS: “We do hear from some.”
OBAMA: “I hear from all kinds of viewers about everything.”
CONNERS: “I’m sure you do.”
OBAMA: “But the fact of the matter is, I think if you look at my track record, I’m raising a family here. When we travel, we got to travel through Secret Service, and Air Force One, that’s not my choice. I think most folks understand how hard I work and how hard this administration is working on behalf of the American people.”
CONNERS: “Well, of course, with all due respect, the President side stepped that question. No one is questioning his need to travel on Air Force One or have security. The questions being raised are the first family taking so many vacations, when and where, at taxpayer expense.”
Heh, it’s probably just a coincidence that the IRS began hammering him after this interview.