President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited The View for an episode that aired today. POTUS brought Barbara Walters a birthday present: a gift basket full of White House napkins, beer, M&Ms and playing cards — since she’s admitted, in the past, to stealing little tchotckes from the joint. Obama also joked that he was “just eye candy” for the ladies. Walters asked the couple about how they celebrate their wedding anniversaries; Mrs. Obama admitted that she forgot all about their very first anniversary. Mrs. Obama was also asked to describe her husband’s personality; she said:
He’s very loving, he’s very giving, he’s very open. He’s funny; I’m funnier. But we understand that.
FLOTUS also disclosed that she is one of the few people who can really make him mad; the President explained she does it “by being thoroughly unreasonable!” Of course it’s all a PR stunt, part of the campaign: Cute, safe hints at bickering — The President’s just like us! Yet they were seemed pretty real, down-to-earth and honest, even if every time he reached for her hand, it seemed vaguely choreographed. Still, you have to love a woman who says that she does not allow her kids to complain: “You are blessed… There are people with real issues,” she said she stresses to Malia and Sasha.
Later, Michelle Obama was asked about the difficulties being First Lady. She denied that there was anything hard about her job: “You see me — I’m jumping rope and hula-hooping.” The President looked at her adoringly as she spoke, and when Walters suggested the missus run for office; he said, “Michelle would be terrific… but temperamentally, I just don’t think she could.” She agreed: “It takes a lot of patience… I’m not that patient.” Downplaying her ability to lead was a bit bothersome; have we forgotten that she was his boss when they met?
In general, though, it was a pretty successful appearance. The President reminded us all that he is getting shit done, that he has the country’s best interests in mind (“We want people to thrive”) and that he has a handle on foreign policy: “The majority of Muslims want what we want: Peace, opportunity, for their kids to have a good education.”
Other moments of note:
Mrs. O’s mouth twitched ever so slightly when Elisabeth Hasselbeck said she would “have to ask the hard questions” (bless her) and proceeded to ask something Hasselbeckian about unemployment and the income gap.
And: Barbara Walters clutched her reconstructed heart after receiving a kiss from the President.
