Could we be one day closer to an Interior Secretary Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) or Byron Dorgan (D-ND)?
Rumors were already circulating that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was on his way out. Now, a brawl over wild horses led Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to threaten to “punch out” a local reporter in Colorado Springs, as FoxNews.com reports. (cue up the Garth Brooks Wild Horses music in the background)
On Election Day, at an enthusiastic gathering of Obama supporters in Fountain, Colorado; Dave Phillips, a reporter for the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, had just finished an interview with Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar about his controversial policies for managing America’s wild horse populations. Just after Secretary Salazar answered final questions about the future safety of wild horses and he turned to leave the interview, he unexpectedly approached Phillips and told him, “If you set me up like this again, I’ll punch you out.” Standing nearby was Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation, a Colorado-based wild horse advocacy organization. “I was stunned by the Secretary’s rude and clearly hostile comment toward Dave,” said Kathrens.
Kathrens, who had had been granted permission by an Interior law enforcement official to take pictures at the rally added, “ Salazar walked past me, refused to shake my hand, and told me, ‘You know, you should never do that.” It was unclear to Kathrens what he meant. “These threats would have been inappropriate coming from anyone, but the fact that it came out of the mouth of the Secretary of the Interior is alarming,” stated Kathrens. “I can’t believe that a top official in Obama’s cabinet could be so defensive.”
TheBlaze.com has now confirmed that the altercation occurred through a Department of Interior spokesman.
In an email to TheBlaze, U.S. Department of Interior spokesman Blake Androff confirmed that the altercation occurred. “The secretary regrets the exchange,” he wrote. The official did not provide any additional details.
The video below cuts out just before Salazar threatened to “punch out” the Colorado Springs Gazette reporter, according to Kathrens: