Bob Collins
That might have been the best news conference in the administration of President Barack Obama, who has been far too reclusive in his years in office when it comes to answering questions from the media.
The choice today to hold the news conference in an informal setting was just right. His quips were Kennedy-esque, and he didn’t seem quite so afraid of offending his political opponents, as if an election no longer depended on what he had to say.
He criticized Sony for caving in to North Korean hackers, and delivered a fine blow by noting that these people — runners in the Boston Marathon — weren’t quite as afraid.
He also booted actor James Franco’s name, calling him James Flacco.
“I hear you’re leaving,” he said to Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown. “Where are you going?”
“Brussels,” she said. “Politico is starting a new publication there.”
“I think there’s no doubt that what Belgium needs is a version of Politico,” Obama said.
And there’s this nugget that couldn’t possibly have been an accident: Every question at today’s news conference was asked by a woman.
see how newsy press conferences can be when women ask the questions?
— gwen ifill (@gwenifill) December 19, 2014
