President Obama and Jerry Seinfeld got in a car to get coffee, and they didn’t get very far.
Here’s Obama’s appearance on Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee”
Libby Nelson was Vox’s editorial director, politics and policy, leading coverage of how government action and inaction shape American life. Libby has more than a decade of policy journalism experience, including at Inside Higher Ed and Politico. She joined Vox in 2014.
Obama was on the first episode of the new, seventh season of Seinfeld’s show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, a show on Sony’s web-based streaming service Crackle, out Wednesday evening. But since Seinfeld and Obama are thwarted in their attempt to leave the White House in a 1963 Corvette, this episode might be more aptly titled “Ridiculously Famous People Talk About How Weird It Is To Be Famous.”
Being president probably does give you as much, or more, in common with a famous comedian, somebody else who understands what it’s like to be recognized everywhere you go. And so while Seinfeld and Obama mostly make small talk, it’s a weird kind of famous-person small talk, particularly near the end, when Obama starts asking Seinfeld how he kept perspective amid fame and wealth (and how he deals with hecklers).
Some of the revelations from their talk:
- Seinfeld asks what sport politics is most like: “It’s probably most like football,” Obama said. “A lot of players. A lot of specialization. A lot of hitting. A lot of attrition. But then every once in awhile, you’ll see an opening, you hit the line, you get one yard, you try a play, you get sacked, now it’s like, third and 15… you have to punt a lot. But every once in awhile, you see a hole, and then there’s open field.”
- Obama shaves before he works out.
- Obama’s guilty pleasure food is nachos. “I have to have it taken away — I’ll have guacamole coming out of my eyeballs.”
- How many world leaders are completely out of their mind? Obama: “A pretty sizable percentage … the longer you stay in office, the more likely that is to happen.”
- Obama blows off steam by cursing, he claims: “Bad stuff or stupid stuff is happening constantly, right? Every day. So you just have to be able to just make fun of — wow, that was even dumber and more annoying than usual. That’s when cursing is really valuable.”
- For policy wonks, there is one extremely gratuitous mention of Obamacare at the end.
Vox Featured Video
President Obama on why he is so polarizing
