He was just asked if he told Michelle about the operation, and he seemed to talk all around it but never really answer. Am I misunderstanding? Did he answer the question?
FYI, video and a transcript of the interview is here. Based on reading it, I think you’re correct that he didn’t directly answer that question.
Thanks. It seems like he may as well just say it; trying to hide things doesn’t usually work.
Later he says:
Not sure if he told his wife, though. I honestly wouldn’t blame him if he did.
I took it to mean he did not. Given the length of the operation (8 months) it had to have involved as few as people as possible. Few of the people around him knew about it.
I don’t think he was really dodging the question. The interviewer asked him a bunch of related questions at once, Obama answered the first part and then stopped. Given that he explicitly said he didn’t tell his family later in the interview, he doesn’t really seem like he has any problem actually saying he didn’t tell Michelle.
I think he just forgot about that the Michelle part of the question by the time he finished his answer to the other part (I like Obama, but he does like to give long rambling answers in interviews.)
I believe he answered the question later in the interview:
I’d like to add my Kudos for keeping it secret for 8 months. That’s got to be some kind of White House record.
Pshaw. If he didn’t tell her then, he’s definitely sleeping on the couch now. :o
I guess it also depends on your definition of “tell”
There is no reason why this issue in particular, amongst the thousands that come across his desk should be mentioned.
But it is entirely conceivable that he did mention in passing that “the hunt for Osama has been going well” or “it looks like we will have big news soon about Osama” and Michelle knows enough not to pursue it and “force” him to lie to her?
It looks like he did tell.
The thing is people who lie tend to avoid
Contrast this with
See how he directly answered the question.
The problem is TV interviewers do not ask questions correctly. You must ask simple direct questions. Kroft did not do this with Mr Obama and Michelle.
He asked four separate questions of him at once. “Did you want to tell Michelle” and “Did you tell Michelle”
This is rampant in American Journalism. I don’t understand why interviewers do this? You ask a question directly. And it’s not Kroft it’s virtually every interviewer I’ve ever seen on TV.
I would think a lot of presidents share info with their spouses. Mrs Wilson was notorious for running her husband’s life.
I recall the neighbors, in Chicago, of Mr Obama always called him “henpecked,” so it’s easy to believe he shared this information.
And of course the Family Circus confirms this
It also depends on whether “family” is taken as a whole such that by not telling most of his family he could claim that he answered the question accurately.
I think it’s good that we didn’t get a direct answer.
- If he did tell her, he’d seem henpecked and a blabbermouth.
- If he didn’t, he’d be getting grief from the feminists who, for some reason, think a President should take his wife into the administration in an informal way.
Best wishes,
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Uh, yeah, I quoted that part already.