President Obama defended his appearance on Funny or Die’s “Between Two Ferns” earlier this month despite his critics who say being interviewed by comedians devalues the office.
The president’s comments come after Fox News host Bill O’Reilly argued that Abraham Lincoln never would have sat down with comedian Zack Galifianakis to pitch Obamacare amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
“Abe Lincoln would not have done it,” he said.
But Mr. Obama said in an ESPN radio interview on Thursday that he begs to differ.
“First of all, if you read back on Lincoln, he loved telling the occasional bawdy joke, and, you know, being out among regular folks,” he said. “One of the hardest things about being president is being in this bubble that is artificial, and unless you make a conscious effort, you start sounding like some Washington stiff.
“So you got to consciously try to get out of that if you want to remind yourself of the wonderful people you’re supposed to be serving who have a sense of humor and aren’t thinking every day about position papers,” he added.
The president said the primary reason he’s chosen certain media appearances is to remind people who don’t follow day-to-day politics that they only have until March 31 to sign up for Obamacare.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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