Posted on 03/20/2014 10:53:02 AM PDT by servo1969
On Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie touted an exclusive preview of Fortune magazine's list of the world's 50 greatest leaders and wondered about one name that was absent from the ranking: "Bill Clinton comes in at number five and makes the cover. There are a lot of other notable names here. Tell you what, though, there may be some talk about one leader who did not make the list, the leader of the free world, President Obama. Fortune tells us he was not overlooked, he just did not make the cut." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Co-host Matt Lauer reacted: "Yeah, that's surprising." He then noted leaders who "did make the cut": "Pope Francis takes the top spot. Congratulations to him....Some other folks you may recognize, Bono, Derek Jeter – yes! – Angelina Jolie, and Malala Yousafzai."
[video]
Wrapping up the segment, Lauer reassured viewers: "But the President is not sulking at home. On Wednesday, what did he do? He went out and taped an appearance on Ellen." Host Ellen DeGeneres proceeded to suck up to Obama by claiming people were "very grateful" for ObamaCare.
In a statement to NBC News, Fortune explained:
President Obama wasn't excluded from Fortune's World's 50 Greatest Leaders list. He simply didn't make this year's list of 50 outstanding individuals who have demonstrated rare leadership, leadership in multiple areas or who have demonstrated a long history of leading.
Besides Bill Clinton getting the number five spot, the only other American political leaders on the list were former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. No Republicans made the list.
In an interview with Fortune, Clinton was asked: "Who are the great leaders in your mind?" Obama didn't make his list either.
Here is a full transcript of the March 20 Today segment:
8:14 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: We are back now at 8:14 with What's Trending Today. And this morning, Fortune magazine is releasing its first list of the world's 50 greatest leaders.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Fortune's Finest; 50 Greatest World Leaders]
The issue's out tomorrow, we're going to get an exclusive look right now at who makes the list. Bill Clinton comes in at number five and makes the cover. There are a lot of other notable names here.
Tell you what, though, there may be some talk about one leader who did not make the list, the leader of the free world, President Obama. Fortune tells us he was not overlooked, he just did not make the cut.
NATALIE MORALES: In the top 50.
MATT LAUER: Yeah, that's surprising. Okay, so who did make the cut? Pope Francis takes the top spot. Congratulations to him.
CARSON DALY: What a year, what a year he's had.
LAUER: That's right. Some other folks you may recognize, Bono, Derek Jeter – yes! – Angelina Jolie, and Malala Yousafzai.
But the President is not sulking at home. On Wednesday, what did he do? He went out and taped an appearance on Ellen. And then he had a little joke about her famous Oscar selfie. Remember, she beat his record for the most retweeted tweet. Take a look.
[ELLEN OSCAR SELFIE STUCK ON SCREEN AS CLIP ROLLS]
BARACK OBAMA: Pretty cheap stunt myself.
LAUER: Well, he was actually a lot better when you saw him. But he said, "Pretty cheap stunt, grabbing a bunch of celebrities and feeding them pizza just to beat my record."
GUTHRIE: Yeah. Did a little dancing with her. Episode airs later today. By the way, if you're interested in Fortune's list, you can find it at today.com.
I feel like laughing with these guys at ZERO.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Didn’t anybody say “racist”? What? The man born in Kenya, who is not eligible to be president, who would never pass the background check for security guard at the mall, and who hates the country he is president of didn’t make the list?
Well that must be racist! Why else would he be left off the list?
Pretty pathetic when you get beat out by somebody whose only claim to "leadership" was surviving a gunshot to the head.
He’s on our enemies list of greatest US leaders.
Did he spell Syracuse right this year?
Apparently members of the news media were not polled. Obama would have won all 50 positions if they had been.
So, somebody at NoBodyCares called up the magazine and said "Yo! How come my man Barry ain't on yo' list?"
You know things are bad when the left’s token black president doesn’t make a leftist list of leaders. That would never have happened to Nelson Mandela.
“Obama would have won all 50 positions if they had been.”
Is that some sort of esoteric training path for catamites?
I was following along just fine, when all off a sudden the topic was determined not to be the gayest leader...
For good reason. The best Republicans, like Ted Cruz, have very few followers, which is a requirement for leaders. Cruz may get them, if he can take the reins of the Republican party and force it to be conservative. More likely, the guns will line up against him and do all in their power to deny him any power.
Guys like McConnell and Boehner are good leaders in the sense that they have been excellent strategists at forcing people to go along with letting them run the show. They cajole, threaten and reward. They somehow find ways to coopt almost everyone. But leading people to do nothing is not really leadership, so they do not deserve to be mentioned.
US news media, catamites, you decide. Six of one...
Considering the lowlifes who made the list, I AGREE!!
He fits right in there!!!
Obama would certainly “make the list” — if it was a list of the WORST LEADERS in world history. He would definitely make the cut, then!
Besides Bill Clinton getting the number five spot, the only other American political leaders on the list were former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. No Republicans made the list.
Sounds like being for gun control was one of the qualifications.
So, do you agree with John McCain that Boehner and McConnell are good for the country, and Ted Cruz or Rand Paul and destructive, disruptive forces, best ignored?
Fortune tells us he was not overlooked, he just did not make the cut...? Translation: Comminity organizing does not qualify you for the presidency.
On Wednesday, what did he do? He went out and taped an appearance on Ellen.
I suggest that these two things are not unrelated.
Bill Clinton at number 5 is a mistake. Obama not on the list is not.
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