Posted on 02/21/2015 11:17:18 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Even before he was president, Barack Obama enjoyed showing off his sense of humor.
Since getting elected to the White House, President Obama has joked with Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert, done off-center interviews for Buzzfeed and YouTube and played ball with an interviewer who jokingly asked him, “What’s it like to be the last black president?”
The wacky, funny asides have earned Obama plenty of negative attention, but they’ve also drawn a lot of focus to his policies. Here’s a look back at some of the most memorable moments in the career of Barack Obama, comedian:
Nov. 3, 2007: Then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) makes a surprise appearance at Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Halloween party on “Saturday Night Live.” Dressed as himself, he mocks his fellow Democratic presidential candidate, saying, “he has nothing to hide” and “is not going to change just because it’s Halloween.”
May 9, 2009: At his first White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, Obama, looking to point out something they have in common, calls House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) a “person of color” in reference to his infamous orange tan. The president goes on to say that Boehner's skin hue, however, is “not a color that appears in the natural world.” Boehner responds to the comment, telling CNN's John King, “As I tell my friends, you only tease the ones you love.”
June 8, 2009: Obama issues an executive order to Stephen Colbert to shave his head during a taping of “The Colbert Report” in Baghdad. The president interrupted a conversation between Colbert and his guest, Gen. Roy Odierno, who said Colbert needed to get his hair cut “like the guys out here” if he wanted to be a good soldier.
Sept. 21, 2009: When David Letterman asks Obama if the backlash against his healthcare plan was fueled by racism, President Obama quips, “It's important to realize that I was actually black before the election.”
April 30, 2011: Following years of backlash from the birther movement and Republicans like Donald Trump, who publicly questioned the legality of his presidency, Obama decides to release his “birth video,” rather than his birth certificate, to an audience at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Instead, he shows the opening sequence of “The Lion King,” playing on the rumors that he was born in Africa.
April 24, 2012: During his reelection campaign, Obama stops by “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” to talk about his plan to stop the interest rates for federal Stafford loans from going up. While “slow jamming the news” with Fallon, Obama attracts nearly 11 million viewers. He also garners heavy backlash from Republicans who say he’s prioritizing fun, talk show events over the American people’s interests.
August 6, 2013: Obama, on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” jokes that his “feud” with Trump goes all the way back to their early days growing up in Kenya. After Obama laughs off Trump’s offer to donate $5 million to a charity of the president’s choice if he released his college records and passport applications, Trump says his response was “that of a con man.”
Feb. 28, 2014: Obama and Vice President Biden run around the White House to promote first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, after hundreds of Americans submitted videos showing how they moved using the hashtag #LetsMove. The video of the run has reached more than 1.4 million viewers on YouTube.
Same day: After a heckler asks Obama about his plans for nuclear war with Russia during a speech at the Democratic National Committee’s winter meeting, the president responds, “Who’s that back there? What the heck are you talking about? I don’t about that plan. I don’t know what you’ve been reading. See, he thought happy hour started earlier.” While those at the meeting greeted the retort with a roar of cheers, many Republicans think his response was rude and unbecoming.
March 11, 2014: Obama takes heat for being “unpresidential” with his ObamaCare-promoting “Between Two Ferns” interview with Zach Galifianakis, but the segment is viewed nearly 10 million times, and comes just before reports that an estimated 7 million people signed up during HealthCare.gov's first enrollment period.
Summer 2014: The president causes a stir after repeatedly leaving the White House to take surprise walks in downtown Washington. A laid-back Obama met with tourists on his route to Chipotle, telling them that “the bear is loose.” Critics call Obama’s promenades a stunt to try to get people to think of him as a regular guy ahead of the midterms.
Jan. 20: During his State of the Union address,Obama mentions to Congress that he has “no more campaigns to run,” drawing applause from Republicans. “I know, because I won both of them,” he adds to applause from the other side of the aisle. The remark lights up Twitter for days.
Jan. 22: Obama is interviewed by three YouTube stars — GloZell, Hank Green, and Bethany Mota — and discusses issues ranging from relations with Cuba to racial profiling and marriage equality. Critics of Obama question how he prioritizes his time and the seriousness of the interviews, noting some of the previous posts by the video creators.
Feb. 12: In an effort to boost ObamaCare signups before the Feb. 15 enrollment deadline, Obama appears in a video made by Buzzfeed, in which he mugs in front of a mirror, plays air basketball and uses a “selfie stick.” The video, which has been viewed more than 49 million times, garnered widespread criticism from conservatives who said Obama had degraded the presidential office.
He's a laugh a second.
This is their response to this week's news cycle that's hovering like a drone over the the target - the spectacle of his lack of leadership and questions about why that is.
Even Obama's VP - "That's Just Joe" - filmed overtly snuggling the neck and rubbing the shoulders of the wife of Ashton Carter standing behind her husband as he was being sworn in as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, couldn't help Obama.
NRO: “While relentlessly mocking his GOP opponents during the DNC’s annual winter meeting on Friday, President Obama had some unexpectedly “kind” words for one congressional Republican — Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.
The president was midway through a shtick on how the Republican Party was trying to steal Democratic ideas on middle class economics when he referred to the libertarian lawmaker and likely 2016 presidential candidate.
“Rand Paul!” he began, to groans from the crowd. “No, Rand’s an interesting guy,” Obama corrected, causing his audience to burst into laughter.
“No, he is!” the president insisted. Obama called it “encouraging” that Paul recently declared the GOP should go to the South Side of Chicago and “shout at the top of its lungs that the GOP is the ticket to the middle class.”
“I want parties to compete everywhere,” the president said. “I think that’s a good thing.” “And I was just home on the South Side of Chicago yesterday,” he continued. “And I guarantee you that Senator Paul would be welcome there. We are a friendly bunch.
I mean it’s a little strange if people show up and just start shouting at the top of their lungs. But we’re friendly, and it’d be ok.”
The president then flashed a knowing smile, prompting guffaws from the Democratic audience.
Paul is one of a handful of national Republicans trying to make inroads in the African-American community — a fact the president was perhaps referring to with his “South Side” shout-out to the senator.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/414147/obama-rand-pauls-interesting-guy-no-he-brendan-bordelon
Remember his “corps-man” mispronunciation? This president is a real comedian; how did he ever get re-elected ...
The Hill “newspaper” really thinks he “quipped” all those lines off the cuff? Oh come on!
I would welcome that over Obama in the White House.
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