Obama’s late-night slip teaches how words hurt

In a quick and clearly unscripted moment, President Obama exhibited the power of words during his history-making visit Thursday with Jay Leno. While joking on The Tonight Show about his bowling prowess (during last year’s campaign trail he shamefully scored 37 in a game), Obama said he’d been practicing at the White House lanes and boasted to Leno, “I bowled a 129. It’s like — it was like Special Olympics or something.” The comment during the taping of the show prompted Obama to pick up the phone on Air Force One and call Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver to preemptively apologize for the remark before it hit television screens.

Share