Obama Sings Happy Birthday To Helen Thomas, Brings Her Cupcakes (VIDEO)

(AP) WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is celebrating his own birthday by leading the White House press corps in singing Happy Birthday to veteran reporter Helen Thomas.

Thomas and Obama share a birthday on Tuesday, with the president turning 48 and the reporter turning 89.

Obama carried cupcakes into the room where reporters were gathered to quiz his chief spokesman, Robert Gibbs, at the daily briefing.

Thomas is a columnist with Hearst Newspapers.

Obama told her: "I will leave it up to you, Helen, how you want to distribute the cupcakes."

Obama sat beside Thomas for a picture after she blew out one candle and said she told him her birthday wishes were "world peace and a real health care reform bill."

RELATED: Watch: Christiane Amanpour Schools Kyra Phillips Over Helen Thomas Comment

Comments

[ullyses]

02:41 PM on 08/07/2009

PURE CLASS!!!!

[paulalex]

01:15 PM on 08/07/2009

Every time I see these little happy moments I like to think of the birthers, teabaggers and other "real americans" in their fortified compounds in the woods going into convulsion­s of rage.

[XME]

03:43 PM on 08/06/2009

Well that ought to be one birthday that will be easy for him to remember! I'm just amazed that she's still going to work every day. I hope I make it to 89, let alone that I'll still be ABLE to work!

[Dustee]

11:03 AM on 08/07/2009

And she's still sharp as ever.

[zkazan]

12:18 PM on 08/06/2009

And some would ask, "who paid for the cupcakes?" lol

What a really nice gesture. Not just for Helen but the entire press corps.

[Okieborn]

10:37 AM on 08/06/2009

Happy Birthday Helen Thomas !!
America loves you !!
Happy Birthday President Obama America Loves You Sir !!!

[Bulbul]

07:39 AM on 08/06/2009

So sweet.. giving me goose bumps...

[roch20]

02:16 AM on 08/06/2009

I love the relationsh­ip between President Obama and Robert Gibbs, very brotherhoo­d style! Happy Birthdate to Helen and President Obama!

[tmo7734]

12:36 AM on 08/06/2009

Happy birthday to Helen Thomas. She has been asking tough questions since I was a kid way back in the JFK days. Keep hammering them Helen!

[LovingHope]

11:56 PM on 08/05/2009

I'm proud of our President. He is trying to help, but this country is so screwed that he doesn't know where to began. I remember when Bush was president, we never heard the people complainin­g. The Republican silenced the voice of the people. With Obama you hear complaints everywhere­. It's nice to have freedom of speech again. I think we really need to stand by our president. He needs our help. We need to keep informed. The people that hate him, really want to destroy him. I saw the documentar­y "Teddy." I'm sorry, but I don't put it past them.

*Happy Birthday, Mr. President. Be careful. We really need you.

[queenofcore]

07:05 PM on 08/05/2009

That's Our President I am so Proud, he is our man. Good On you Mr. President Happy birthday

[Jamesdean]

06:42 PM on 08/05/2009

I just love her.

[2MhBS]

05:18 PM on 08/05/2009

I think at some point, you can OD on KoolAid. Careful people. I liked it more when our presidents were not news stories everyday. Things seemed to work a little better before the celebrity worship stuff started. DC is completely broken, and the President and Congress are not interested in doing anything about it, nothing, zilch. No term limits, no real campaign reform, no ridding of the beautiful corporate lobbyist, no financial regulation with teeth. Without any of that, where is this Change that anyone could believe in going to come from? Back to feel good story.

[billbb]

10:50 PM on 08/05/2009

You mean apart from: creating a foreclosur­e prevention fund for homeowners­, establishi­ng a credit card bill of rights, expanding loan programs for small businesses­, extending and indexing the 2007 Alternativ­e Minimum Tax patch, expanding eligibilit­y for State Children's Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP) that Bush had vetoed, expanding funding to train primary care providers and public health practition­ers, increasing funding to expand community based prevention programs, signing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabiliti­es, formally directing military leaders to end war in Iraq, sending two additional brigades to Afghanista­n, giving a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administra­tion and starting to repair America's internatio­nal standing, granting Americans unrestrict­ed rights to visit family and send money to Cuba, restoring funds for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG­) program, requiring new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliatio­n or contributi­ons, pushing for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act to expands hate crime law to include sexual orientatio­n and other factors, creating a White House Office on Urban Policy, supporting increased funding for the NEA, appointing an assistant to the president for science and technology policy, funding a major expansion of AmeriCorps­, appointing the nation's first Chief Technology Officer, working to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear, [2]

[billbb]

11:09 PM on 08/05/2009

[2] appointing an American Indian policy adviser, banning lobbyist gifts to executive employees, weatherizi­ng 1 million homes per year, investing in all types of alternativ­e energy, enacting tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars, supporting high-speed rail, providing grants to encourage energy-eff­icient building codes, appointing Republican­s to the cabinet, extending unemployme­nt insurance benefits and temporaril­y suspending taxes on these benefits, reversing restrictio­ns on stem cell research, saving two American car companies and the jobs they represent, reducing capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups, expanding the earned income tax credit, creating the American Opportunit­y Tax Credit to offset college costs, getting through a new and greatly improved GI Bill, appointing experience­d disaster official to head FEMA, and getting his daughters a puppy.

Things started and now in the works: Increasing the capital gains and dividends taxes for higher-inc­ome taxpayers, eliminatin­g all oil and gas tax loopholes, extending child tax credits and marriage-p­enalty fixes, requiring automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans, changing standards for determinin­g broadband access, creating a consumer-f­riendly credit card rating system, creating a $60 billion bank to fund roads and bridges, [3]

[Forest]

04:54 PM on 08/05/2009

Happy Birthday to a real journalist­, Helen Thomas, and to President Obama.

[davidvirgodc]

03:52 PM on 08/05/2009

Sean Hannity's head is about to explode!!!

[lantanatx]

03:45 PM on 08/05/2009

Happy Birthday to both of them. Helen Thomas is getting the respect due her, from a President who understand­s the importance of a strong press to the health of any democracy. Both of them are class acts.