Reached by phone, Scheiner confirmed that he had sat down for an interview with Klein. But while he still has the same concerns about the Affordable Care Act almost three years later, he doesn't believe he offered up the same criticism verbatim during the interview.
"I think he may have gotten that from your article," he said. "I'm just not that consistent."
Scheiner took umbrage with other aspects of his portrayal in Klein's book, saying that he was never overtly critical about the president on a personal level and that he only took issue with his policies. (At one point, he is quoted as calling Obama "a great speaker and a lousy communicator," and Klein writes that Scheiner expressed "hurt" that he wasn't invited to Obama's inauguration.)
"I didn't say anything about competence or about character," said Scheiner. "In fact, I repeated how much I admired him personally. I said my whole disagreement is with how he handled the Affordable Care Act."