Obama: Rush Limbaugh slur disturbed me as a father
President Obama gave a wide-ranging press conference Tuesday, but his most heartfelt answer came in response to a question about the Rush Limbaugh controversy. He wouldn't want his daughters treated like that, he said.
President Obama addresses a news conference in the White House Briefing Room in Washington Tuesday.
Jason Reed/REUTERS
Washington
In many ways, President Obama's first full scale press conference since November was classic Obama, confidently pivoting between foreign policy questions on Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan and logically laying out his case for administration policies.
But twice in the crowded 45-minute session, his answers – about his two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and his wife, Michelle – provided a peek behind the president's professorial manner. For a president who presents himself as the Great Explainer, providing a picture of calm amid turbulent times, the moments provided a more visceral glimpse of the man in the Oval Office.
After several questions on the Middle East Tuesday, Mr. Obama was asked whether he thought Rush Limbaugh was sincere when he apologized for calling Georgetown University Law student Sandra Fluke a “slut.” On his radio show, Mr. Limbaugh took exception to Ms. Fluke's telling members of Congress that health insurance should cover contraceptives. Obama later called Fluke as a show of support.
