President Obama knows Lindsay Lohan is in jail; clueless about Snooki (or is he?)

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President Barack Obama graced the couch of ‘The View’ on Thursday in what was billed as a ‘historic’ first appearance on the chat fest by a sitting president.

Panelists Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, Joy Behar and Elizabeth Hasselbeck hit topics including Afghanistan and ‘Jersey Shore’ with Obama.

‘Did you know that Lindsay Lohan is in jail?’ Behar asked.

‘I actually know that, yes,’ said the commander-in-chief.

Then talk turned to tanstastic guidette Snooki -- the outspoken star of MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore.’ Behar asked if the reality star should run for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

Obama laughed and said, ‘I’ve got to admit, I don’t know who Snooki is.’

(Or does he? The Chicago Sun-Times points out that Obama in May made a joke at the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner about the bump-it queen and her castmates. ‘The following individuals shall be excluded from the indoor tanning tax within this bill. Snooki, J-WOWW, the Situation, and House Minority Leader John Boehner,’ he told the room.)

Other pop culture gems were POTUS’ sidestepping of the Mel Gibson scandal, and his acknowledgment of what a nice young man that Justin Bieber is. Watch the full clip above!

-- Matt Donnelly

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