ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: President Obama Says Encounter With Arizona Gov. ‘Blown Out of Proportion’

Source: Huma Khan / ABC News

President Obama denied in an exclusive interview with ABC News that he was “tense” in his tarmac encounter with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer Wednesday, as she has described.

“I’m usually accused of not being intense enough, right,” he told ABC News’ Diane Sawyer, laughing. “Too relaxed.”

Brewer said in an interview that the president was “somewhat thin-skinned and a little tense, to say the least” and that she was “shocked by the sternness of it all.” The president reportedly raised objections to Brewer’s description of their meeting in June, 2010, when he met her Wednesday.

“I think it’s always good publicity for a Republican if they’re in an argument with me. But this was really not a big deal,” Obama said of their most recent meeting. “She wanted to give me a letter, asking for a meeting. And I said, ‘We’d be happy to meet.’ Last time we met she wasn’t fully satisfied. But, you know, I think this is a classic example of things getting blown out of proportion.”

To read this article in its entirety visit ABC News.

Watch World News tonight at 6:30 p.m. EST for Diane Sawyer’s interview with President Obama.