Washington President Obama appeared on ABCs Jimmy Kimmel Live Thursday night and mixed comedy bits with a serious riff about the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Mo.
Was that a weird juxtaposition? We must admit it seemed a little awkward to us.
First, the funny stuff. Mr. Obama was the first sitting president to make an in-studio guest appearance on a late night talk show, according to Variety, and his experience is starting to show. Hes polished the slightly hesitant, stiff delivery into an actual comic persona. It seems arch and a little self-knowing, as if hes giving an imitation of himself delivering jokes in front of a law seminar.
Or something like that.
This may have come across best during Mr. Kimmels signature mean tweets bit. Obama read supposedly critical tweets about himself on air a method meant to defuse the sting and show presidents are people too, according to the host.
We say supposedly mean because they were pretty mild as insults go. By the standards of Twitter they were practically compliments. Most of the ones we get include Nazi and moron in some combination.
For instance, Obama read this one, from @RWSurfer girl: Is there anyway we could fly Obama to a golf course halfway around the world and leave him there?
Sounds good to me, the president said in response.
Then he read How do you make Obamas eyes light up? Shine a flashlight in his ears.
This one caused Obama himself to kind of laugh out loud. Thats pretty good, he said.
View post:
Obama talks mean tweets, Ferguson on Jimmy Kimmel. Odd combo? (+video)