“So, congressman, why wasn’t that embarrassing?” Camerota queried.
Collins then attempted to backtrack.
“Well, again, it’s degrees,” he responded. “As I had already acknowledged, we did not overreact or we did not stand and cheer with Obama any more than they did. I guess it’s degrees of it. I just said I believe the Democrat response was more subdued than our’s with Obama.”
When Camerota then played a clip of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) yelling “You lie!” at Obama in 2009, Collins’ reaction was to called Wilson’s outburst “humorous.”
“Congressman … you seem to be ignoring the point, which is that was incredibly disrespectful,” Camerota challenged. “Why are you more focused on Democrats not applauding?”
“Well, no, that was disrespectful,” he said. “[But] Joe Wilson was reacting to something he thought was not truthful and Gutierrez was reacting to the president saying we should respect our flag.”