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VIDEO: Coburn Reflects On Friendship With Obama During '60 Minutes' Farewell Interview

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn focused on his Congressional record and his friendship with President Obama during a farewell interview on the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes Sunday night.

The state's junior Republican Senator and the president disagree on climate change and nearly every major social issue, but he told Leslie Stahl his relationship with Mr. Obama isn’t based on either man's political philosophy.

"You don't have to be the same to be friends,” Coburn said. “Matter of fact, the interesting friendships are the ones that are divergent."

The president has a reputation of not getting along with Congressional colleagues, and Coburn offered a concilliatory explanation for why he says Obama hasn't done a good job reaching out to the Senate.

"It's not his personality style,” Coburn said. “I mean, you know, he's not well-suited to be a back slapper, sit down and let me tell you this dirty story before we get down to business. I mean, he's not one of those kinds of guys. He's a serious guy.”

Coburn said his friendship with Obama dates back to their 2005 orientation when they were both incoming Senators. Shortly after they arrived, they gathered their staffs together to find areas where they could work together.

“We did a lot of stuff on lowering the rates on student loans and re-calculating all that to save a lot of people a lot of money in the future going forward,” Coburn said.

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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