(CNN) - For all the stalemate in the fiscal cliff negotiations, there were some heated moments, too.
A Democratic source familiar with one particular exchange told CNN that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were sitting on a sofa in the White House.
Follow @politicalticker
House Speaker John Boehner breezed in and his first words to Reid were "Go f*** yourself."
Boehner's comment came after Reid took to the Senate floor on Thursday and characterized the House speaker's handling of his chamber as a "dictatorship."
Reid responded to Boehner's confrontational tone by laughing, the Democratic source said, though a GOP source who was there said he didn't think Reid was all that happy.
"The exchange continued, and it didn't get any better for Reid," the GOP source said.
Boehner's office had no comment on the exchange when asked about it Wednesday.
Both men described the moment to members of their caucus.
The exchange happened at the White House on Friday - the day the four Capitol Hill leaders, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi - met with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
On Wednesday, after news of the comment emerged, Reid said on the Senate floor that "unlike others behind us in this Capitol, I'm not going to stoop to name calling. I just want people to work and do what they need to do." Politico first reported Boehner's comment.
Hours after the meeting on Friday, he described it as "constructive."
"There was not a lot of hilarity in the meeting, everyone knows how important it is," Reid said. "It was a very serious meeting and it took an extended period of time."
– CNN's Dana Bash and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report
From CNN Politics
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
It's nice to know that our nation's leaders have so much class.
The Republicans have just opened the door for the Democrats in 2014. I have said it before and I will say it again, HATRED is going to be the destruction of this country. Those of you who do not like it here, leave. See if you have it better in some other country. Our President is doing the best he can and it will get better. Everything takes time.
He is from a blue state. Of course he had to vote for it. That is why he cursed.
Good for him! And another one to Pelosi!
There you go, Boehner!! Most of us knew you had it in you all along. Regardless ofd frustrations galore, his comments were unprofessional, degrading, and disgusting. It makes no difference if Reid is a horse's rump as some on here have said. What matters is the Ohio guy is technically in line to be president assuming everything in the world went wrong at the same time.
Boehner and McConnell have obstructed and lied long enough and it's time it stops. Reid can be a prickly little thorn, for sure, and I have no kind words to say about him or any politician who laps at the public trough for existence. But the Speaker should always be above such behavior. He brought this frustration on himself over the last year or so. Not surprised his cork finally came unglued at the slightest opportunity.
LOL All of America watching the Congress "work" for a better America is saying that to ALL congressional leadership and the stooges we just voted back into office....
Clearly Boehner has reveled his true nature here. In England people like him would have jobs digging holes in the road. Ghastly pleb
You would be cursing too if the party you represent was falling apart before your very eyes.
Just another Republican with zero class. You guys remember that you lost, right?
where is the outrage from Sarah Palin?!?!?!?!
People this is a non-story, Republicans and Democrats alike use incivility all the time. Look at Rahm and how he would use the F word when talking to opposition. Simply put all of these politicians have forgot how to act.
We've been telling you to do that to yourself since 2010 Boehner.
After raising taxes on those who actually pay them and seeing that the Affordable Health Care Act kicks in (the onlyl ones who actually benefits are the dope smokers, welfare frauds and corrupt unions) kicks in with its billion dollar price tag, the most corrupt, incompetent, inept president flys off to Hawaii ( at a taxpayer cost of $7 million) while those of us who actually work for a living and have to pay for his programs can't take a vacation as it would cost us to much. Democrat liberal way.
@rs
Wilson-
Grow up. Our taxes and tax rates have been at record lows for about 15 years. Reality has played a hand, and guess what? Good government costs money.
-----------–
What you on the left do not seem to get is that taxes do not need to go up. Plenty of money is collected in taxes. To much of it is handed out to the people that are capable of working, but to lazy to do so. In addition, to much is handed out to corporations making record profits. If they will stop that, our taxes will not need to go up. All they are doing is taking more of our capability to support our families away from us. Taxes make our paychecks go down, but costs of everything we purchase, food, utilities, etc is going up. Face it, no one in washington cares about the "little people."
"A Democratic source". Gee, I wonder why it made it sound like Reid was in the right. Let's be honest, Reid is an old man who is not qualified to lead. He can only lead when he has a "dictatorship." Pelozi and Reid are the most partisan politicians in all of the senate and the house. They need to go.
As much as Boehner is despised, he's better than his rival for power, Cantor. Eric Cantor, is not to be trusted. He's power hungry with no morals to keep his quest to be ruler of the world in check. Just read his body language. This alone tells it all.
Boehner is an embarrassment
well I guess so much for Republicans being so pious and God fearing. Didn't former VP Cheney drop an "F" bomb on the Senate floor once before? Bring out the soap folks. But what I wonder was when the Speaker said this WHO heard it and ran to tell the press about it?
lol – guess he gets that sort of language from his brother's Bar – in Cincinnati – he's only got til 2014 – he's out when mid-terms rolls around. Maybe he can get a spot on the Jerry Springer show.
Boehner wanted Reid to do to himself what the House Republicans have been doing to the American people for the past two years.
Harry Reid has done more damage to the values and morale of our country than anyone I can remember in recent times. He's nothing but a dirty, nasty street fighter who cheats and lies his way to whatever he wants (oh, wait, there's another one in the White House!) - get lost in Nevada, Harry - you don't deserve a seat in the Senate!
Reid deserves more than just a curse out. He has been the most unproductive Senate Majority in history. The senate has not pass a budget in over three years so his members would not have to vote on the record for the largest spending increases in history. Of course the liberal media does not point this out so the under informed voters (a large majority of people) don't know the truth about our Govt.
I wonder how much of this went on in days of yore when we didn't have the internet and the press wasn't everywhere. A lot of things didn't get reported. LBJ and Truman, from what I've read, both had pretty salty vocabularies. That was a pretty contentious thing to say, but maybe it reflects the tense nature of what's going on right now. That said, these are pretty unique times we live in, with partisanship seemingly at an all-time high and all.
Right, wrong, or indifferent, it's nice to see at least one person in politics still has balls,unlike the castrated, PC, liberal whack jobs. I for one appreciated the comment.
Its all a tactic. These guys are professionals. You don't get mad in any negotiation or confrontation unless it furthers your position somehow. Its good that its that heated. You know your asking for the right amount when you see the other-side squirm and loose their cool. That said, Boehner was probably faking outrage.