President Obama’s recent gum-chewing gaffe at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation has handed critics a new line of fire that counts down the number of times his behavior has been less than presidential and ponders: Perhaps he’s giving the Oval Office a bad name.
“He’s lucky that more people don’t accuse him of denigrating the office,” said Tobe Berkovitz, a professor of communications at Boston University who specializes in political messaging, The Hill reported. “[Obama] fancies himself president but also a pop star, and the pop star bit gets him into trouble.”
Mr. Berkovitz said Mr. Obama’s faced more naysayers in the press in recent months in part because voters aren’t giving him high marks in the polls any more.
But whatever the reason, the president’s instances of boorish behavior are piling up, The Hill reported. Most recently, it was the Nicorette gum chewing in Beijing that led journalism Professor Yin Hong to blog: “We made this meeting so luxurious, with singing and dancing, but see Obama, stepping out of his car chewing guy like an idler,” USA Today reported.
Before that, Mr. Obama was roundly criticized in the press for saluting two Marines with his cup of coffee.
The National Republican Congressional Committee tweeted of that September incident: “Wait — did President Obama just salute the Marines with a LATTE in his hand?!”
PHOTOS: See Obama's biggest White House fails
And before that, it was Mr. Obama’s selfie with the blond Danish prime minister Helle-Thorning Schmidt at Nelson Mandela’s funeral — in front of his disapproving wife, Michelle — that caused widespread consternation.
Such episodes made it more difficult for Mr. Obama to recover in the polls and media, Mr. Berkovitz said, The Hill reported.
“It reinforces that he’s down and out as a political leader,” he said, The Hill reported. “But that doesn’t mean the guy isn’t going to come back.”
At the same time, some — like Democratic consultant Bob Shrum — say all the criticisms of Mr. Obama’s flubs are pure politics.
“It’s ridiculous, and I don’t think people pay the slightest bit of attention to it, except the Obama haters,” he said, The Hill reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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