Raw Story July 12, 2007

Although his biting sarcasm in response to unfriendly questions can make members of the White House press corps grumble under their breath, President Bush got a different reaction from a 13-year-old girl who asked him about immigration during a forum in Ohio.

The Washington Times reports Jessica Hackerd was left in tears after Bush gave her a wry "yeah, thanks" in response to her query, drawing laughter from the crowd of 400 in Brecksville, Ohio Tuesday. Bush immediately began to backpedal when he saw the reaction from Hackerd, who told the Times she was crying because she is very shy and was nervous questioning the president.

"No, it's a great question. No, I appreciate that," Bush said, before giving a more-than-1,100-word answer about the death of his immigration bill.

The 13-year-old, who was at the forum with her parents and younger sister, continued to wipe tears from her eyes for several minutes, the Times reported, and Bush again tried to encourage the young girl.

"It's a great question by the way, and I'm glad you asked it," he said.

After the appearance, a Bush aide ushered Jessica and her family backstage to meet with the president.

"He said it was really brave of me to do that and he said he probably wouldn't have been able to do that," Jessica told the Times. "And he said it was the first time anybody had asked him about [immigration] since it happened."