Posts published in “U.S.”

One day after Barack Obama broke the Internet – talkin’ ‘bout “folks wanna pop off” – the President of the United States has been announced as GQ Magazine’s Man of the Year, gracing the cover for a second time.
In the accompanying interview with Grantland founder and “30 for 30” co-creator, Bill Simmons, POTUS reveals some interesting tidbits about his relationship with FLOTUS, Michelle Obama, and his teenage daughters Malia and Sasha.
Read some excerpts below, courtesy of UsMagazine.com:
How his daughters operate their cell phones:
“It’s so interesting watching my daughters. Both are complete ninjas on the phone, right? And they can do things that I don’t even understand — they’re doing it in two seconds,” Obama shared. “But I even see a difference between Malia, who’s 17, and Sasha, who’s 14. There’s almost a mini-generational gap in terms of Sasha being so connected seamlessly to this smartphone in a way that Malia, who was already a little bit older when it really started to take, is not.”
The five people he would answer the phone for while on a date with Michelle:
“Malia and Sasha,” Obama told GQ with a laugh. “And maybe my mother-in-law. My national security advisor, Susan Rice, and Denis McDonough, my chief of staff. Those are the only people whose call I would take during a date night with Michelle.”
The way some people look at Malia:
The president was asked if anyone has driven up to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to pick up his eldest daughter, Malia, for a date. “No,” he replied. “But I’ve seen some folks glancing at her in ways that made me not happy.” In fact, Obama joked that he tells the Secret Service to “keep an eye on him.”
He’s like Aaron Rodgers under pressure:
The leader of the free world compared himself to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers when he’s under pressure. “One thing I learned during the campaign was that I’ve got a good temperament. I don’t get too high and I don’t get too low. I’m able to stay focused even when there’s a lot of stuff going on around me,” he shared, saying he was “maybe Rodgers in the pocket, in the sense of you can’t be distracted by what’s around you, you’ve got to be looking downfield.”
The Sandy Hook shootings are among “the worst few days” of his presidency:
“Think about 2013, right after I’d been re-elected: Our goal was to lead with a big push on immigration reform,” Obama recalled. “And then, before the second inauguration has even happened, [the school shooting at] Sandy Hook happens. Which remains, by the way, the worst few days of my presidency. I went up and visited with those families and — you know, Bill, you’ve still got small kids. These are 6-year-olds, right? And you have 20 of them who’ve been massacred. Right away, our focus had to shift to ‘Is there a way for us to capture this moment to see if we can get over this incredible hump to try to put in place some common-sense gun-safety rules?’ And we knew it was a stretch, just because of the politics of Congress and the NRA. But we had to try.”
Read the entire interview HERE.
article via blackamericaweb.com