Appearing on Broadway for one night only: US President Barack Obama, in a solo comedy act roasting the US Republican Party.
The US president on Monday night left a crowd of more than 1,300 in stitches at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, home to the hit musical Hamilton about US founding father Alexander Hamilton. The cast staged a special performance for a US Democratic National Committee fundraiser, with Obama as the encore.
Deviating from his typical fundraiser spiel, Obama said next year’s Republican presidential candidates seem to “occupy a different reality” in which the US has taken a perilous turn since he took office nearly seven years ago.
Photo: AP
“According to them, everything was really good in 2008, when we were going through the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes,” Obama said.
“This, apparently, was the golden age that I messed up, and they’re so glum, they’re really so frustrated,” Obama added, barely containing his feelings about the Republican cast of characters seeking his job.
Tweaking Republicans who question climate change, Obama likened it to having 99 out of 100 doctors tell someone they have diabetes and having that person brush it off as a conspiracy.
“All 99 of those doctors got together — with Obama — to try to prevent me from having bacon and doughnuts,” Obama said to laughter in the ornate Times Square theater. “It’d be funny — except this is about climate change. This was an analogy.”
As next year’s race has picked up steam, Obama has largely stayed on the sidelines, only occasionally offering his own commentary. Instead, he has been trying to lay the groundwork for Democrats to make a persuasive economic case in the election.
He seemed to let loose at Monday’s performance, which drew donors who paid between US$500 and US$10,000 per ticket.
Before the curtain fell, Obama took a last jab at the Republican field over foreign policy, mocking claims by Donald Trump and others that relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin would improve if they were elected.
“And then it turns out they can’t handle a bunch of CNBC moderators,” Obama said, poking fun at candidates’ complaints about last week’s Republican presidential debate on the TV channel. “If you can’t handle those guys, I don’t think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you.”
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