Perhaps Barack Obama learned his journalistic craft from Jeff Zeleny. After getting skunked at the G-20 and on the free-trade agreement that Obama had gone to Seoul to sign, CBS’ Chip Reid wondered what concerns Obama had heard about American policy from his colleagues at the conference, as William Kristol reports:
At his November 12 press conference in Seoul, President Obama was asked the following question by CBS’s Chip Reid: “What was the number-one complaint, concern, or piece of advice that you got from foreign leaders about the U.S. economy and your stewardship of the economy?”
Whereupon the president began his response with a complaint: “What about compliments?” he asked. “You didn’t put that in the list.”
Sounds like someone needs a Slurpee … and maybe a nap. I think we can pardon Reid for not assuming that the same G-20 leadership that told Obama to stuff his complaints about China’s currency manipulation into his QE2 steamer trunks suddenly broke out into song over Obama’s economic stewardship.
Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.
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