Obama 'Special Olympics' Crack On Tonight Show (VIDEO, POLL)

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UPDATE: Obama apologizes for joke, watch video of Special Olympics chairman

Even before Barack Obama's interview on the Tonight Show had aired, the White House was working to tamp down a hubbub over an off-hand joke the president had made.

When Obama told Jay Leno that he had recently bowled a 129 score, Leno replied dryly, "That's very good, Mr. President." Obama chuckled and said it's "like the Special Olympics or something."

Around 9:30PM ET (two hours before the show airs anywhere), White House spokesman Bill Burton made a brief statement to the reporters on Air Force One: "The president made an off-hand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics. He thinks the Special Olympics is a wonderful program that gives an opportunity for people with disabilities from around the world."

Transcript is below, here's video:

Q Now, are they going to put a basketball -- I imagine the bowling alley has been just burned and closed down.

Story continues below

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THE PRESIDENT: No, no. I have been practicing all -- (laughter.)

Q Really? Really?

THE PRESIDENT: I bowled a 129. (Laughter and applause.)

Q No, that's very good. Yes. That's very good, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: It's like -- it was like Special Olympics, or something. (Laughter.)

Q No, that's very good.

THE PRESIDENT: No, listen, I'm making progress on the bowling, yes.

Quick Poll

Obama's joke about the Special Olympics was...

Just a light-hearted, self-deprecating comment. Get over it people.

Maybe a dumb thing to say, but he didn't mean it in a mean-spirited way, and it is pretty funny.

A tasteless comment that he should not have said, period.

Why are we even talking about this?

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Comments

[Sherri Lasko]

I basically like Mr. Obama, but I also believe his high profile means he needs to be held to a high level of accountability. Our words are an indicator of our views... would anyone truly empathetic to the dignity of the special needs community ever make such a remark? We all slip. But do we slip so blatantly in high-profile situations? Usually our sense of propriety is heightened at those times. I am very disappointed Mr. Obama. Perhaps an apology should include some actions to back up the words -- then again, Mr. Obama hasn't apologized personally. It would be easy for me to have a "front man" make all my apologies. If it really means something, Mr. Obama, let's hear it from YOU, personally.

I'm also quite disappointed that Huffington could include an "and it was pretty funny" remark in their poll options. This community of people deserves more respect, on so many levels.

[kaboomer10]

This is not a big deal at all. The big deal is we got a President who is just going to be a figure head. He is not going to do much besides take from the rich and try to fix the economy. The middle class will loose money and the poor will stay poor. There is no miracle here, but everyone beleives he is the savior... get the stage lights off of him this hole thing is being over done completely.

[Etha Walters]

As I stated in my blog: A Wheelchair View

It is important to speak out against all kinds of derogatory and hurtful things However super sensitivity can be counter productive to our cause.

Why don’t we consider the Special Olympics? The term “special” has become some what of a derogatory term when referring to people with disabilities. I remember the references to “special” education and the automatic referral to those people who attended was “r.” Why don’t we give the Special Olympics a more empowering name like “Ablelympics?” By making changes in the dynamics in how we introduce ourselves to the world we present a new picture of association. The media COULD be more of a help in this area but we have to start with ourselves and eventually people will hop on board.

[stillhereafterall]

Someone who picks Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education is not really a good friend of educating children with disabilities. If you don't believe me, try to get your kid with disabilities educated in Chicago Public Schools.

[stillhereafterall]

I always appreciate a chance to see a politician's true colors. You can almost count on their ignorance of disability issues and experience to provide such. This is a case in point. Perhaps those who think it was "just a joke" don't have a clue. Perhaps Obama will learn when some child he loves becomes disabled. You'd think he'd be a bit more enlightened considering Alexrod's child.

[evgolightly]

Oh, give it up, Mother Teresa.

[Rob Frankle]

Why is it that all of you idiots defending Obama think that people who are DD need to have things explained to them? Yes, there are some that are not on the same mental capacity as you or me. However, even the lowest functioning people can tell when they are being mocked, I've seen it.

Secondly, NOT ALL SPECIAL OLYMPICS PEOPLE ARE MENTALLY DISABLED. Many are physically disabled. And the ones that are physically disabled that he made fun of are, in alot of cases, are 100X the athlete and 100X more dedicated than most people in sports that have no disabilities. Ironically, I think we have seen that these athletes are more dedicated to their jobs, through training and preparing, than Obama has in his term already...how about that, maybe it isn't skill he lacks but dedication to the job?

By the way any of you heard of Oscar Pistorius? He has two prosthetic legs and still can run a 46.34 in the 400m, which if you don't know is DAMN FAST. I would bet on this guy in a race against any of you ANY DAY. Obama's comment under-minded all the hard work this guy, and several others that are top notch athletes have been doing for years.

[nevadagirl]

Rob Frankle,
How is calling people idiots any nicer than what President Obama said?

[Rob Frankle]

Because idiocy is a choice, not to mention the correct definition of idiocy is "utterly senseless or foolish behavior". How is saying a persons being senseless or foolish offensive to anyone but the person who is being senseless?

[Pulemerci]

Don't we look for stuff to bother us though? I really doubt the President intended to offend anyone. Non-story here, move on.

[Chris Heckle]

Since when do you have to mean to hurt people in order to hurt them? In the history of the world has the non-apology of "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings" ever meant more than "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings"?

The offhandedness is precisely why the disability community is so upset. It shows how ingrained it is that it's okay to make fun of people with disabilities. Even the president can do it! Why should I stop using the R word? The president thinks special olympics athletes aren't worth thinking about - why should I?

[nevadagirl]

If peope with disabilities want to be treated like everyone else, they better grow a little thicker skin. All of us get teased for something and it's a major part of male bonding, so get over it.

[Julieanna]

It was a dumb comment. While I don't think Obama meant to insult those of us in the disability community, it shows how ingrained those attitudes are. Even many "liberal" and "progressive" people think it's okay to dismiss or belittle people with disabilities. As the poll shows, 75% of the people here says it's no big deal. Would you feel that way if you or your kid or your spouse competed in the Special Olympics?

[7granny]

His comment is not the biggest outrage. The biggest outrage is that so many of you don't feel there was anything wrong with it. How can you defend any unkind remark about the most helpless of our society. We should all be standing side by side in the effort to protect these people as much as you do for gays, blacks, illegals, etc. What's wrong with you people.

[NEguru]

you are such a cry baby. look at the bill obama signed and the amount of money that is being spent on people with disabilities. that is what counts!!! actions speak louder than words... more so than ever this time around. and you are dwelling on some comment he made which is in fact true. people with disabilities are worse at sports than people with no disabilities... it is the reality. deal with it.

[C65]

7granny,
What is wrong with you when as a granny,you haven't learned that we as humans
are constant in error.I'm a granny and I have lived long enough to know that we
all make mistakes,but what's so sad is we are all trying to condemn others
mistakes,instead of cleaning up and correcting ourselves.This is why our
nation is in such a mess,we don't find some good to add,we spend all
our time looking for what's bad in others.

[7granny]

The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the world. Anything he says can have far reaching ramifications. This is why is it not wise for him to put himself in the position where an off handed joke can be used against him. Obama needs to stop campaigning & start doing his job. So far he spends 2 hours each morning excerising & does not even arrive in the Oval Office until 9:30 Am. He has used Air Force One, in the middle of the worse economic crisis (his words) since the great depression, to go to Chicago to take his wife out to dinner for valentines Day & play basketball. He has had more parties in his first weeks in office than any other president. He has snubbed the Prime Minister of our strongest ally, Great Britain. Before leaving for CA the other day he said he was going out to talk to the "voters". Someone needs to tell him the election is over. It is time for him to stop playing at the job & start doing it. If Bush had behaved the way he has at anytime during his term he would be raked over the coals big time. I just want to know regarding the comment Obama made about the Special Olymics, if George Bush had done everything exactly as Obama did would all of you be definding him?

[Rob Frankle]

The answer is an emphatic NO! These people are so blinded by hatred toward anyone that doesn't believe in socialism and that those who work hard and strive to ACHIEVE the "American dream" should be punished and pay for for the people that want others to take care of them...unf­ortunately I have just fallen into the same BS that they have by commenting on something completely irrelevant to the article...­.apologies

[C65]

OK we get it you're not a friend of the President,didn't vote for him,nor do
you support him,but until you know what you're talking about KEEP
YOUR OPINIONS TO YOURSELF.ie;"he's the most powerful person in
the world",how dumb for a so called christian conservative-GOD IS
THE MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD AND HE IS THE ONE WHO HAS
KEPT ME SAFE,NOT GEORGE BUSH OR ANY OTHER MAN WITH LIMITED
POWERS.

[Rob Frankle]

I am going to have to agree with you there.....­..separati­on of church and state sooo leave whatever theology you believe in out of the conversati­on......no one cares.

[nevadagirl]

7granny,
Don't even start with the comparisons to W because your guy is gonna come out on the short end of that one!

[calamityjohn]

My son goes through more in a single day than I can imagine .. and yet is constantly the but of humor and jokes .. the triumph of his life should be celebrated but instead he faces a society that consistently treats him as a sub human tag line.

It is sure great to have the President reinforce that he is an object of derision ..

If he actually thought that the developmentally disabled were people ... honest to god equal members of our species it wouldn't have occurred to him to bring it up even in passing.

Do you know the figures on unemployment in the developmentally disabled community ?? .. do you know any of the 10s perhaps even 100s of thousands of people with developmental disabilities nation wide on waiting lists for needed services in many states.

I can tell you that the people that have truly been able to succeed in working with my son have been the ones that have truly been able to accept him as a human being.

The fact that even those on the left are willing to so quickly circle the wagons and tell the DD community to sit down and shut up to defend their leader shows just how truly alone in the world we are .. and that I must figure out the whole immortality thing for my son to have a chance.

[ailbhe]

He was making fun of himself, nothing wrong with a self depreciating sense of humour.

Some people just stand around waiting for something to be offended by.

What a boring world where everybody has to censor themselves, holding back in case somebody chooses to take insult.

There is nothing on this planet that is not offensive to somebody. .

[Tulka2]

It was not the most sensitive thing Obama ever said, but he apologized right away. What's the big deal?

The worst kind of political correctness is the sort where jerks are offended on BEHALF of others. Wow. .... and in this case...? You would have to carefully explain to the offended so as to be sure Obama hurt their feelings. Yikes.

[EndTheEcho]

Did you really write?

and in this case...? You would have to carefully explain to the offended so as to be sure Obama hurt their feelings.

Because that makes it clear who the jerk is. Obama clearly has no disability, his lack of bowling skill is because of his lack of skill, not because of a disability. So when he tries to equate his low score, higher than my able bodied score, to that with people with disability he deserves to be criticized.

And using that "political correctness" label, that is an attempt to excuse yourself and others for being an insensitive jerk and put the blame on the person you are being a jerk to.

[7granny]

Tulka2, you & ailbhe ought to be ashamed of yourselves saying those things to Calamityjohn. You have no right to judge the feelings of a person especially since you do not know their lives & what they go through. Shame on you both. Your words were totally uncalled for & if you have any decency you will apologize.

[nevadagirl]

I am not responsible for your feelings and neither is the president. Start taking responsibility for you reactions to what other people say and do and stop looking for reasons to get your panties in a wad.

[thepianodiva]

I watched the interview and didn't even notice that line. People need to lighten up. It was a totally innocent remark. The more a person looks for offense the less it takes to offend them. Pretty soon no one can say a word about anything. jeez.

[ciscoguy]

Would you feel the same way if GWB made the remark?

[Tulka2]

It would have been okay if GWB made the remark because it would have been about his own kind. That's allowed.

[Harrygton]

The President got himself in trouble the minute he attempted to make a comparison with anything... there would have being faux outrage, no matter what group he had chosen to compare his lousy score with! This is call humor, people, this was not a speech and it is definitely not part of any Obama policy against handicapped people... view this within content... comedians satirize politicians, as a group, all the time, lawyers at nauseum... they do it on purpose and yet nobody is calling for their heads. Yes, there is a double standard here and is being display by the bleeding hearts with a chip on their shoulder who are always eager for a fight to feel themselves worthy!

[wrrock]

the lack of reaction from Obama’s remarks suggest Americans have a set a rules for race, class and gender: If you touch them you will pay.

And another set of rules for individuals that have a mental or physical disability: If you touch them, it’s ok if you appologize. Oh, and by the way, it’s okay to laugh at the jokes that come at the expense of the latter.

It is just cruel.

http://www.butasforme.com/2009/03/19/obama-the-insensitive-makes-a-joke-on-leno-at-the-special-olympics-expense/

[FabulousAt52]

Oh brother. You ultra sensitive, Hyper-vigilant Obama haters must be very hungry to be chewing on THIS one so voraciously......

[ciscoguy]

This is not a crazy relative making this crack at thanksgiving dinner. This is the guy holding the highest office in the land and making the remark to a national audience.

wrrock is spot on. What if GWB had appeared on Leno and, hypothetically, made a joke about his inability to swim, saying he looked like a black guy in a swimming pool? Can you imagine the backlash? Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be storming the White House door. But, when you're a democrat, particularly Barack Obama, it's just a lighthearted joke.