Obama Gives Press Conference, Has to Apologize to Nancy Reagan
Yesterday, President-Elect Barack Obama finally gave a massive press conference. It was for the first time in two months that he spoke to the media in such a fashion.
It was, of course, also the first time he spoke to them as president-elect, which made this press conference more important than your average conference. People wanted to know what to expect from Obama in the coming years: would he be able to handle the questions well? Would he prove able to speak ‘off the cuff’ instead of with the help of a teleprompter?
Overall, Obama performed quite well. He did not make big mistakes, except for one: when asked whether he had spoken to former president so he could learn what the job was all about, etc., he said “yes,” he had spoken to Bill Clinton. And, he went on to say, obviously not to Ronald Reagan for he only speaks to living presidents, unlike Nancy Reagan with her “seances.”
Conservatives and moderates criticized Obama for the remark, pointing out that the former First Lady did nothing to deserve his insult. Obama acted immediately by apologizing to Ms. Reagan.
“President-elect Barack Obama called Nancy Reagan today to apologize for the careless and off handed remark he made during today’s press conference,” said transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. “The President-elect expressed his admiration and affection for Mrs. Reagan that so many Americans share and they had a warm conversation.”
It was a silly mistake from Obama: if you want to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans, you should not insult the widow of their most beloved president, obviously. But his reaction shows that he is not too proud to apologize for mistakes, and the rest of the press conference went well.
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Obama got his fact wrong. It was Hillary who held seances. Nancy consulted astrologers about her husband’s schedule and policies.