Once again, President Obama’s gum-chewing habits have landed him in trouble.
In India, at the Republic Day parade, the U.S. president was caught on camera — and the photograph soon after went viral on social media — pulling out a piece of suspected Nicorette chewing gum from his mouth in order to address a quick comment from his seated colleague, Prime Minister Nardndra Modi, the Daily Mail reported.
Twitter poster Shobhaa De wrote of the photograph, the Daily Mail reported: “Barack bhai working his jaws overtime and chewing gum! At least [it] isn’t gutka. But seriously — gum during a formal parade?”
And another, Peter Baker, a White House correspondent: “Obama appears to be enjoying parade, shown on Indian television bobbing his head with the music. Seems to be chewing gum, probably Nicorette.”
Yet one more, from David B. Cohen, the Daily Mail reported: “That’s his 21-gum salute. … Just now saw Prez Obama chewing something.”
The Washington Post reported months ago that Mr. Obama was trying to beat back his tobacco addiction by chewing Nicorette. Mr. Obama, meanwhile, has previously stated that he’s quit his cigarette smoking habit — out of fear of his first lady wife, Michelle Obama, he’s half-joked.
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But this isn’t the first time Mr. Obama’s public gum-chewing has brought out the public relations criticisms. In Beijing at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, Mr. Obama brought out the criticisms of many Chinese for emerging from his car chewing gum — a perceived sign of disrespect. Social media users then characterized him as a rude “idler” and a thoughtless “rapper,” USA Today reported.
Yin Hong, a professor of journalism at the Tsinghua University in Beijing wrote: “We made this meeting so luxurious, with singing and dancing, but see Obama, stepping out of his car chewing gum like an idler.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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