Ahead of the Super Bowl, President Barack Obama tackled weighty issues such as whether he would choose chips and guacamole over chicken wings — and who he would choose to be his successor, Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden.
On the latter he said, “I love them both.”
The President joined NBC’s Savannah Guthrie in the White House kitchen ahead of the game, for a traditional five-minute pre-game interview.
They touched on more serious topics, like the State of the Union, and whether or not he walked in to the Capitol with too much swagger.
Obama defended the tone of his speech, saying he was telling the American people about, “the success that America has had in digging itself out of a really tough recession, and that is a celebration of the American people — that’s not about politics.”
“My job is to present the right ideas, and if Republicans think they have a better idea than they should present them,” he said. But my job is not to trim my sails and not tell the American people what we should be doing — pretending somehow that we don’t need better roads, or we don’t need more affordable college.”
The President said he has found over six years in office that, “When I tell the American people very clearly what direction I think the country should go in, sometimes people change their minds and even Republicans occasionally start agreeing with me.”
Just not as quickly as he would like, Obama said.
At the end of the interview, the host gave the President a lightening roud of either/or questions.
When asked if he would pick football or basketball, the President was ever the politician saying, “I’m still a basketball guy, but I love football.”
On offense or defense, “Always offense.”
And, on buffalo wings or chips and guacamole, he said, “You know, that’s tough — but I’m gonna go with chips and guac.”
And, again, on Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden, Obama didn’t skip a beat saying, “Love them both. Good try.”
But the most memorable moment of the interview may just be a photograph of Obama swilling some beer — with his pinkie up.