With an eye on the critical women’s vote, President Obama started his appearance on The View by saying, “I like hanging out with women. What can I tell you?” The president also touched on gay marriage, JP Morgan, smoking, and how he’s just the “right amount of embarrassing.”
Obama also provided a little more insight into the conversation he and Vice President Joe Biden had after Biden said he was “absolutely comfortable” with gay marriage on Meet the Press. When asked if Biden jumped the gun the president gave his VP some cover.
“I was okay with it,” Obama said, adding, “I’m never going to blame anybody for telling what they believe, because I think it, it’s important, you know, for everybody in my administration to feel like, you know, we want to be disciplined, we want to make sure we’re getting the message out there. But, at the same time, on issues of principle, you know, I always admire people who – who go ahead and speak their minds.”
He once against invoked his daughters, who basketball team he helps coach, on how they inform his views on politics, especially women’s issues, including the hot-button Title IX.
“Watching these girls grow … watching them progress and get better as a team, and seeing the confidence that they get it’s a reminder,” he said. “You know, we’re celebrating four years of, of Title IX. And it shows when girls are given the opportunity and they’re competing and they’re working as a team, it makes them strong, it makes them more confident. One of the great things that’s happened during the course of my lifetime, is women’s sports becoming just as important.”
And the president didn’t hesitate to remind everyone that it’s the First Lady and his daughters that keep him in check. The president recounted that for his 50th birthday, his daughters put together a list of why he is such a wonderful Dad, “and they had this list. It was so sweet. And one of the items on Malia’s list was, ‘You are just the right amount of embarrassing.’”
He also joked about how the First Lady teases him about his ears and nose and his habits “mercilessly.” “She just is relentless,” he said. “But it is good for you … especially in the White House.”
And the one habit she apparently doesn’t have to tease him about is smoking. The president was asked whether he sneaked a smoke after the capture of Osama bin Laden. His answer: “I did not. I did not because…Michelle will catch me.”
