Don't Go There, Mr. President

A rare slip-up. He's got to THINK! Not cool!

Ugh.

No more joking ever again Mr. President!

Some people might disagree with what you say and yell about it on the internets for months to come!

To be fair, this looks way worse in transcript form than on video. Lauer was teasing him about how a family photo from the inside had been altered for the cover, where Michelle and the girls were featured but he'd been totally obstructed by a sidebar. So he's looking at the place where his face used to be, and there's a pink headline reading "WEIGHT BATTLE" over Simpson's picture. So he's literally reading off of the cover Matt's pointing to.

That and I remember hearing "in a weight battle", NOT "losing a weight battle" as transcribed above. And I was listening for it.

I think he was just reading the cover; but either way that was TOTALLY wrong. With two daughters he ought to be FAR more sensitive to the issues surrounding weight. And sarcastr0, I've been through bulimia and when you look at someone as gorgeous as Jessica Simpson and SHE'S not good enough and apparently too fat then there's something majorly screwed up that messes with your mind.

It's a disgusting facet of our society that women, if overweight or too thin like Richie, or if they have food issues are somehow less and found wanting and ridiculed or joked over. That careless comment would have hurt me a lot if I were Simpson. It's not cool or fair. I'd think better of the president if he apologizes.

Next he shows up on MTP wearing a "NO FAT CHICKS" t-shirt.

First it's fantasy Sports - now it's boneheaded comments about someone's appearance.
.
Does anyone else get the impression that there's a resentment growing over the fact that Obama is just another typical male?

Yeah, video here, 10:45 mark. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/01/obama-talks-football-troo_n_162971.html) He says "Who's in a weight battle, apparently", and then the "Oh well" is in reference to getting bumped from the front page. There's no qualifier of "losing".

After I heard that, I told my wife that I predict that Obama will have a major politically-incorrect incident during his Presidency involving insensitivity to women. I don't think he's stupid enough to give a female foreign leader a back rub during a photo-op, but this is definitely an Achilles heel of his.
.
I'm sure p_luk will be happy to weigh in with the PUMA perspective on this.

Question: Was he making the observation himself, or referencing the Us headline on Simpson? It would make a difference.

Wow, are we back to Al Gore "I invented the internet" territory here? The guy was reading the damn headline lampooning the magazine for bumping him from the cover. K Tizzle please tell me this was just a snarky post. I just saw the same topic on MSNBC and at least the dimwitted Contessa Brewer even pointed out that he was reading the headline.

KT, please fix the posted transcript! Take out "losing".

Bemused: As travellingatalanta noted, it definitely sounds worse in transcript and I totally understand how, during a Lauer interview, you are trying to stay lighthearted and speak off-the-cuff.
.
That said, I definitely cringed when I heard it.

K Tizzle
.
Thats easy. George Bush wouldn't have said it because he can't read!

C'mon, guys. What would you be saying if George Bush had said the same thing?

KT: I'd probably be saying, "Well, its better than molesting the German Chancellor."

KT, I posted the URL where they've got video (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/01/obama-talks-football-troo_n_162971.html). It's at the 10:45 mark.

I'd seen that mag cover at the grocery about half an hour earlier. The president was far more gentle than the US fotog and editors were.
If that's the the takeaway from tha

Sorry. As I was saying,

If that's the takeaway from an excellent interview someone has some pretty f-ed up priorities.

Karen Tumulty-

I think you hace to go back and see the video. He said “who's in a weight battle apparently” which is much more benign than losing the weight battle. I don't where the "losing" came from but this is just much ado about nothing. With that said, she needs to be disciplined and restrained when it comes to the food she puts in her mouth!

Karen Tumulty-

I think you have to go back and see the video again. He said “who's in a weight battle apparently” which is much more benign than losing the weight battle. I don't know where the "losing" came from but this is just much ado about nothing. With that said, she needs to be disciplined and restrained when it comes to the food she puts in her mouth!

Let me guess, that was Mark Halperin's transcript huh? I am sure Drudge will link to it pretty soon.