Obama Tells The View: 'I Wasn't Invited' to Chelsea's Wedding
July 29, 2010— -- Listing some of the lows he has experienced in the past month – prosecuting two wars, cleaning up a massive oil slick, a misstep over a race flap – President Obama mentioned one more indignity he suffered in July: He wasn't invited to Chelsea Clinton's wedding.
While appearing on ABC's "The View," Obama was asked whether he'd be attending this weekend's nuptials in Rhinebeck, N.Y.
"I was not invited," the president admitted.
Obama said he supported the Clintons' decision to limit invitations to guests who had a relationship with Chelsea, leading many longtime supporters and political powerbrokers to feel left out.
"It would be tough enough to have one president at a wedding. You don't want two presidents," he said.
Imagining a wedding with two presidents in attendance, Obama joked that guests would have to walk through metal detectors and all the gifts would be opened by the Secret Service.
"I was not invited, because I think Hillary and Bill properly want to keep this as a thing for Chelsea and her soon-to-be husband," he said.
"I'm letting you guys know now, you all probably will not be invited to Malia's wedding," he quipped.
In an appearance on The View today, the first by a sitting president on a daytime talk show, Obama charmed the hostesses and mostly female audience, answering softball policy questions with stock answers.
But in a lightning round of questions, the president revealed his shortcoming on pop culture.
"I've got to admit I don't know who Snooki is," Obama said, causing the studio audience to burst into applause. Snooki is the star of the MTV reality show hit "Jersey Shore."
But to prove he wasn't completely out of the loop, he said: "I knew Lindsay was in jail," referring to the jailing of Lindsay Lohan for failing to comply with the terms of her DUI sentencing.
Asked about the recent scandal over a recording of Mel Gibson making abusive comments to a girlfriend, Obama replied: "I haven't seen a Mel Gibson movie in a while."
Obama said he did not use Twitter, but was a big fan of the iPod.
"I got Jay Z on there, I've got Frank Sinatra on there. I've got Maria Callas on there," he said of the music on his MP3 player.
"I do not have Justin Bieber on there," he said to applause.
