President Obama Defends His Progress, Promises to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show
Tonight, President Obama sat down for a 30-minute Daily Show interview with Jon Stewart. Much was discussed! There was talk of the economy, health care reform, midterm elections, and more—a few pretty tense moments, too. Video highlights, inside.
At the start of the interview, Stewart asked Obama how—in just two years—he and the rest of the Democrats shifted from such a hope/change-filled attitude to more of a, "Please don't leave us!" one as the midterm elections approach:
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Later, when on the topic of health care reform, Stewart asked Obama, "Is the difficulty that you have here the distance between what you ran on and what you delivered?" Naturally, Obama wasn't too happy with the statement, and let Stewart have it a bit before attempting an answer:
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Then, Obama conceded a bit, noting, "When we promised during the campaign, 'Change You Can Believe In,' it wasn't, 'Change You Can Believe In In 18 Months,'" adding, "We're gonna have to work for it!" Watch:
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There were some funny moments, too! Like this one, when—during a chat about the economy, Obama said that Larry Summers had done "a heck of a job," and Stewart quickly pointed out the infamous hilarity of the phrase:
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As the half hour winded down, Obama continued being defensive about the gap between his campaign promises and the policies that have (or haven't) come from it:
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And finally, Obama took the opportunity at the interview's end to claim that his legislative progress/reforms in the past two years were as profound and sweeping as any other in history (he's so modest!):
[There was a video here]