Obama's Speech About Ft. Hood Shooting Draws Criticism

By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- President Obama addressed the Fort Hood shooting during a news conference Thursday, but the president's timing has stirred a bit of controversy.

Some have called the press conference terribly mishandled. The President made his first appearance after news broke of the tragedy at Fort Hood at a Tribal Nations Conference, but instead of addressing the situation first, he addresses the crowd.

"Let me first of all thank Ken and the entire Department of Interior staff," Obama said.

The president then paused :24 seconds in to "give a shout out."

"I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner," Obama said.

It wasn't until nearly two minutes in that the president addressed the horrific events at Fort Hood.

"As you may have heard, there has been a tragic shooting at the Fort Hood Army Base," Obama said.

And to army veteran Kevin Calvey, a republican running for the state's 5th district for Congress, it was a very long minute and 50 seconds for a commander in chief to take.

"You would think their first thought, first order of business would be to express empathy to the family, victims, and victims still alive," Calvey said.

Calvey who served in Iraq said the delay in talking about the situation unfolding in Texas only affirms the position by some that the military is not a priority for the president. Coming at a time when some have questioned President Obama for rarely meeting with General McCrystal, the commander on the ground in Afghanistan, as well as his indecision to send additional to troops into combat.

"These things in isolation might not be that big of a deal, but when you look at them all together I think there are some people asking those kind of questions," Calvey said.

NEWS 9 did make every effort to get a response from Democrats in Oklahoma, but those we spoke with said the President's speech was not an issue and refused to comment.

However, the speech is not just raising questions in Oklahoma.

A Chicago television station conducted a poll, and in the President's hometown, the results showed that people there are furious over how he handled the speech by an overwhelming margin.