#Obama mic drop jimmy fallon movie

(It took six takes for Nixon to get the four-second quip right.) Or Richard Nixon’s labored “sock it to me” soundbite on “Laugh-In” in September 1968. Think of Bill Clinton, in sunglasses, wailing “Heartbreak Hotel” on his sax on Arsenio Hall’s show in 1992. Past presidents had done late-night shows, but only as candidates, not after they took office. The president’s melding of policy and pop culture started early, when he promoted his economic stimulus plan to Jay Leno (remember him?) on NBC’s “Tonight Show” in 2009. “But he spoke more to the heartland, whereas Obama’s success was very coastal,” says Dezenhall.

#Obama mic drop jimmy fallon movie

Of course Trump, too, is in large part a product of pop culture, with decades of movie cameo credits as a billionaire businessman and a long run as the Richie-Rich “Apprentice” boss. People “got sick and tired of hearing that Islam is a peace-loving religion and that there’s nobody braver than Kaitlyn Jenner.” “A lot of Trump’s supporters said, ‘I’m tired of hearing about this,’” says Dezenhall. He paid a 2015 house call to comic Marc Maron’s garage in California to talk terrorism, racial politics and gun control on Maron’s “WTF” podcast.įor all the fascination with Obama’s pop culture finesse, there was a downside.Įric Dezenhall, a Washington crisis management consultant and former Reagan administration official, contends that Donald Trump’s election “can be traced almost solely to the domination of the popular culture that Obama and Obama-ism had.” Obama’s cultural identity was intertwined with a liberal agenda that was a turnoff to many voters. The president tossed a “Mad Men” reference into his 2014 State of the Union address - calling out wage disparities between men and women - and Twitter went wild. But within days, it had snagged 18 million views, on par with Justin Bieber. Some conservatives called that appearance undignified. “Have you heard of the Affordable Care Act?” “I think it’s fair to say that I wouldn’t be with you here today if I didn’t have something to plug,” Obama shot back. “OK, let’s get this out of the way, what did you come here to plug?” Galifianakis groused. The president turned up on “Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis” to get millennials to sign up for his health care law. There he was in Alaska, warning about the dangers of climate change on “Running Wild with Bear Grylls.” There she was on the “Tonight Show,” pushing exercise by challenging Fallon to a sack race in the East Room. In an increasingly fragmented media world, the Obamas turned niche pop culture platforms to serious ends. Michelle Obama matched the president on-trend moment for on-trend moment: She strapped on a seatbelt for “Carpool Karaoke” with James Corden, beat Ellen DeGeneres in a push up contest and rapped with a turnip. “Obama out,” he deadpanned, as he dropped his microphone and left the lectern. “I’m appreciably cooler than I was two minutes ago,” Obama declared after taking the wheel of a 1963 Corvette Stingray with Seinfeld in 2015.Īnd, months before the end of his term, he delivered what could be his with-it farewell line as he ended his remarks at the correspondents’ dinner by embracing a gesture popularized by rappers and comedians. His two terms played out like a running chronicle of the trends of our times: slow-jamming the news with Jimmy Fallon, reading mean tweets with Jimmy Kimmel, filling out his NCAA basketball bracket on ESPN, cruising with Jerry Seinfeld on “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” WASHINGTON (AP) - From his campaign fist bump to his theatrical mic drop at the last White House correspondents’ dinner, Barack Obama ruled as America’s pop culture president. His two terms played out like a running chronicle of the trends of our times: slow-jamming the news with Jimmy Fallon, reading mean tweets with Jimmy Kimmel, filling out his NCAA basketball bracket on ESPN, cruising with Jerry Seinfeld on “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) From his campaign fist bump to his theatrical mic drop at the last White House correspondents’ dinner, Barack Obama ruled as America’s pop culture president.

FILE - In this file photo, President Barack Obama looks over the bracket with Duke University basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, where he honored the team.