President gets comfortable alongside daytime TV hosts

Published on Thursday 29 July 2010 17:02

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama took to daytime TV yesterday, the first American leader to do so, appearing on the sofa along with the women of ABC's "The View."

In a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie, Mr Obama sat on a curved couch between the hosts Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg on his right and Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, a staunch conservative, to his left.

President Obama greeted Ms Hasselbeck with a kiss, but before long she challenged his claim that his economic stimulus programme had "saved" jobs.

Mr Obama stood his ground, and when he said that people had kept their jobs because their employers benefited, the predominantly female audience applauded.

The liberal Ms Behar complained that Mr Obama was not getting credit for his achievements because critics on the right were dominating the debate. "Where's your attack dog to tell Americans 'here's what we did'," she asked.

"That's your job," he replied, to more applause.

Ms Walters, who has been ill, returned for Mr Obama's appearance and asked him for the "rose" and "thorn" among his experiences of the past month.

Mr Obama quickly said the rose was his family. His daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, 9, are "not quite teenagers so they still like you," he joked. For his thorn, he settled on the letters he signs to the families of those killed at war.

A wide-ranging interview took in the Gulf oil spill, the economy and the war in Afghanistan. Questions also dipped into Obama's knowledge of pop culture, in which he showed some proficiency, admitting he was aware actress Lindsay Lohan is in jail.

But he skirted a question about whether shamed actor Mel Gibson should go to anger management classes, joking that he'd rather answer a question about the war in Afghanistan.