In Radio Interview With Miami DJ, President Obama Weighs in on Mariah Carey vs. Nicki Minaj, Biden Shaving His Head, and His Debate Performance
President Obama appeared on the Miami radio station Y100 Friday, where he weighed in on the Mariah Carey v. Nicki Minaj feud, was asked whether Vice President Joe Biden should shave his head to look more authoritative, and said he should have brought up Mitt Romney's "47 percent" video tape during the presidential debate because "the media's attention span is fairly short."
The president spoke with DJ Michael "Yo" Simmons, the self-billed "Half-Black Brother with a Korean Mother" who also does stand-up and serves as a celebrity correspondent on E! News.
"If you want to get out the vote, the place to go is the YO Show," the president said.
Yo asked the president whether there was a moment in the first presidential debate against Mitt Romney when he realized it was not his night.
"You know, that's not actually how I thought about it," the president said. "I do think that on television it was clear that I was being too restrained when Mr. Romney was telling his tall tales. But the truth is, when you read the transcript, everything I said was true and a lot of what he said was not."
The president continued to say what he told Diane Sawyer, arguing that the "underlying fundamentals of this race haven't changed." He then continued to argue that Romney wants to provide tax breaks for the wealthy, which "as a consequence would raise taxes on middle class families," an assertion the Romney campaign says is not true.
"If he had his way we'd still have troops in Iraq," the president said about Romney.
"There's no doubt that I had an off-night," the president said. "He had a sharp presentation but his ideas are still ones that aren't going to work for America and aren't going to work for your listeners. And so we're just going to keep on going."
Why didn't he bring up the secret video of Romney characterizing the 47 percent of the country who don't pay federal income taxes as irresponsible victims?
"The fact is that everybody had already talked about it, everybody had already heard it," the president said. "It is a useful reminder, though, that the news media's attention span is fairly short.
"No doubt that in the debate I was probably a little too polite," the president said. "Sometimes I err on the side of being a little too polite. But the key is, as I said, as we move forward, we are going to be making a very clear case about the choice that this country is facing."
Yo asked the president about the feud between "American Idol" divas Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj.
"You know what, I think they are going to be able to work it out," the president said. "I'm all about bringing people together."
Asked which was his favorite, the president said Carey.
"She's actually done some events for us, I've gotten to know her and Nick (Cannon); she's a wonderful lady," he said.
"Nicki, I don't know, but I've got her on my iPod," the president said.
Minaj in a recent contribution to a Lil Wayne mix tape rapped: "I'm a Republican voting for Mitt Romney/You lazy b*****s is f*****g up the economy."
How would the president do on "American Idol?" Yo asked him.
"You know, you've heard me sing some Al Green," the president said. "I'm going to keep my day job."
Yo noted that one recent study suggested that bald men are perceived as more authoritative, and asked if the president would suggest to Vice President Biden that he shave his head were he to again debate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
"Joe's pretty protective of his hair," the president laughed. "So I wouldn't."