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A32 FEATURE
Thursday 5 January 2017

‘Obama Out’: President ending reign as pop culture king

NANCY BENAC garage in California to talk they took office.
Associated Press terrorism, racial politics and Think of Bill Clinton, in sun-
WASHINGTON (AP) — From gun control on Maron’s glasses, wailing “Heart-
his campaign fist bump to “WTF” podcast. break Hotel” on his sax on
his theatrical mic drop at For all the fascination with Arsenio Hall’s show in 1992.
the last White House corre- Obama’s pop culture fi- Or Richard Nixon’s labored
spondents’ dinner, Barack nesse, there was a down- “sock it to me” soundbite
Obama ruled as America’s side. on “Laugh-In” in Septem-
pop culture president. Eric Dezenhall, a Wash- ber 1968.
His two terms played out ington crisis management (It took six takes for Nixon to
like a running chronicle consultant and former get the four-second quip
of the trends of our times: Reagan administration of- right.)
slow-jamming the news ficial, contends that Don- George Schlatter, the
with Jimmy Fallon, read- ald Trump’s election “can show’s creator, later said
ing mean tweets with Jim- be traced almost solely to Nixon believed “appear-
my Kimmel, filling out his the domination of the pop- ing on ‘Laugh-In’ is what
NCAA basketball bracket ular culture that Obama got him elected, and I be-
on ESPN, cruising with Jerry and Obama-ism had.” lieve that.”
Seinfeld on “Comedians in Obama’s cultural identity Obama caught flak for his
Cars Getting Coffee.” was intertwined with a lib- Leno appearance — be-
“I’m appreciably cooler eral agenda that was a neath the office, some
than I was two minutes turnoff to many voters. said — but he shrugged it
ago,” Obama declared “A lot of Trump’s supporters off as just part of the nee-
after taking the wheel of a said, ‘I’m tired of hearing dling that comes with the
1963 Corvette Stingray with about this,’” says Dezen- presidency.
Seinfeld in 2015. hall. People “got sick and “It’s a little bit like ‘Ameri-
And, months before the tired of hearing that Islam can Idol,’ except everyone
end of his term, he deliv- is a peace-loving religion is Simon Cowell,” he said.
ered what could be his This June 3, 2008, file photo shows then-Democratic presidential and that there’s nobody The nation wasn’t always
with-it farewell line as he candidate Sen. Barack Obama fist bump with his wife Michelle, braver than Kaitlyn Jen- sure what to make of this
ended his remarks at the before speaking at a primary night rally in St. Paul, Minn. ner.” oh-so-hip president. When
correspondents’ dinner by Associated Press Of course Trump, too, is candidate Obama and his
in large part a product of wife shared an affection-
gers of climate change on pop culture, with decades ate fist bump on stage dur-
“Running Wild with Bear of movie cameo credits as ing the presidential cam-
Grylls.” There she was on a billionaire businessman paign, a Fox News anchor
the “Tonight Show,” push- and a long run as the Rich- later referred to it as a pos-
ing exercise by challeng- ie-Rich “Apprentice” boss. sible “terrorist fist jab.”
ing Fallon to a sack race in “But he spoke more to The benefits of Obama’s
the East Room. the heartland, whereas affinity for pop culture
The president turned up on Obama’s success was very were clear: Hollywood’s
“Between Two Ferns with coastal,” says Dezenhall. brightest stars stepped up
Zach Galifianakis” to get The president’s melding to amplify his message and
millennials to sign up for his of policy and pop culture raise money for his causes.
health care law. started early, when he “There also was a kind of
“OK, let’s get this out of the promoted his economic reflective coolness” that
way, what did you come stimulus plan to Jay Leno rubbed off on the presi-
here to plug?” Galifianakis (remember him?) on NBC’s dent, said Tevi Troy, a for-
groused. “Tonight Show” in 2009. mer Bush administration
“I think it’s fair to say that I Past presidents had done official who wrote a book
wouldn’t be with you here late-night shows, but only about presidents and pop
today if I didn’t have some- as candidates, not after culture.q
thing to plug,” Obama shot
back.
“Have you heard of the Af-

In this May 27, 2010 file photo, President Barack Obama looks fordable Care Act?”
over the bracket with Duke University basketball Coach Mike Some conservatives called
Krzyzewski in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washing- that appearance undigni-
ton, where he honored the team. fied. But within days, it had
Associated Press snagged 18 million views,
on par with Justin Bieber.
embracing a gesture pop- James Corden, beat Ellen And health care signups
ularized by rappers and DeGeneres in a push-ups ticked upward.
comedians. contest and rapped with a The president tossed a
“Obama out,” he dead- turnip. “Mad Men” reference into
panned, as he dropped his It wasn’t just frivolity. his 2014 State of the Union
microphone and left the In an increasingly frag- address — calling out
lectern. mented media world, the wage disparities between
Michelle Obama matched Obamas turned niche pop men and women — and
the president on-trend mo- culture platforms to serious Twitter went wild. In this Oct. 24, 2016 file photo, President Barack Obama talks
ment for on-trend moment: ends. He paid a 2015 house call with Jimmy Kimmel in between taping segments of Jimmy Kim-
She strapped on a seatbelt There he was in Alaska, to comic Marc Maron’s mel Live! at the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Los Angeles.
Associated Press
for “Carpool Karaoke” with warning about the dan-