President Obama last night got comfy on “The Tonight Show” couch, cracking jokes about his bowling, a promised pooch and his job even as critics slammed his appearance, and a foray into basketball predictions, as distractions from a critically ill economy.
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Displaying perfect comic timing and spouting plenty of one-liners including an insensitive crack about the Special Olympics that prompted a White House apology the cool commander-in-chief offered his assessment of Washington as “a little bit like ‘American Idol.’ But everybody is Simon Cowell.”
He also said he likes playing pickup basketball with aides, and assured host Jay Leno that they played it honest.
“I don’t see why they would throw the game, except for all those Secret Service guys with guns around them,” he deadpanned.
A self-deprecating remark could get Obama into hot water. Talking about rolling a 129-point game in the White House bowling alley, the president called the result, “Like the Special Olympics or something.”
Even before the taped show aired, the White House issued a statement:
“The president made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics. He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world.”
In the first-ever talk-show appearance by a sitting president, Obama spent much of his 35-minute interview assuring the LA audience that he was “stunned” by the bonuses that bailed-out insurance giant AIG was paying and that “we’re going to do everything we can to get these bonuses back.”
He also defended Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who has come under fire for failing to block the multimillion-dollar payouts.
Geithner “is doing an outstanding job,” the president declared. “I don’t think people fully appreciate the plate that was handed him.”
But there was plenty of time for jokes.
Leno asked, “How cool is it to fly on Air Force One?”
“Pretty cool,” the president answered.
And when will Obama’s daughters, Sasha and Malia, get their pet dog? Leno prodded.
The president obligingly promised the dog for his girls would be in place after he returns from a NATO meeting.
Leno cracked wise about the visit, saying in his monologue that people were surprised the president would come on NBC, figuring he’d be tired of companies on the brink of disaster with a bunch of overpaid execs.
The president’s Leno appearance and his ESPN bracket picks Wednesday for the NCAA tournament he picked 11 out of 16 correctly for the day are an apparent effort to burnish Obama’s regular-guy image. But critics were incensed.
“He flies off to Los Angeles tonight to be on the Jay Leno show,” said Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).
“My suggestion is that he come back since he’s taken the full responsibility [for the AIG bonuses] to get his people together and say, ‘All right, I want to know exactly what happened. Who did what when? And how are we going to prevent this from ever happening in the future?’ ”
Obama did tend to some presidential business yesterday, saying he’s looking forward to signing a bill that comes out of Congress to limit bonuses.
Yesterday, the House passed legislation that would take back 90 percent of the hefty bonuses handed out by AIG and other companies that received at least $5 billion in bailout funds.
As for the president’s picking North Carolina to go all the way in the NCAA tourney, no one took greater issue than the coach of the Tar Heels’ top rival, Duke. Obama described the Blue Devils as a bunch of weaklings who would likely lose to Pittsburgh in the Elite Eight round, because “they just don’t have the muscle inside.”
“Somebody said we’re not in President Obama’s Final Four,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said yesterday. “As much as I respect what he’s doing, really, the economy is something he should focus on, probably more than the brackets.”
Obama’s political foes also seized on the president’s hard-court high jinks, saying he should be focusing on helping people with their 401(k)s rather than their office pools.
“He’s even found time to fill out his NCAA basketball brackets, which is a healthy thing to do in my opinion,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). “But he picked North Carolina, and he caused the Duke coach our Olympic coach, Coach K to say respectfully, ‘You might be spending less time on the brackets, Mr. President, and more time on the economy.’ ”
Obama had appeared on ESPN Wednesday with host Andy Katz before a large white bracket board in the White House, which the president personally filled in with a marker.
The NCAA bracket interview which ESPN dubbed “Barack-etology” fulfilled a promise Obama made to the sports host before his election.