ABC’s Stephanie Smith reports:

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If only running for president were as easy as getting reelected as UN Secretary General.

At a luncheon today during the annual United Nations General Assembly hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, President Obama made a reference to his own reelection efforts, saying he was “envious” of the secretary general, who recently won a second five-year term.

In a toast to Ban Ki-moon, the president joked, “a lot of us are envious of him because in running for a second term he won unanimous consent,” to which the group of foreign leaders chuckled.

“I’m still trying to learn what his trick is,” the president quipped.

Even in New York where the president is wrapping up a three-day trip, Obama hasn’t been able to escape the unyielding criticisms of his administration by Republican presidential candidates.

On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry came to New York and blasted the president’s handling of Palestinian efforts to become a sovereign state at the UN.