Obama news conference: Smoker? President admits he's fallen off the wagon
One reporter, noting that President Obama had signed a day earlier legislation to regulate tobacco, pointedly asked: “How many cigarettes do you smoke alone or in the presence of other people?”
“First of all,” Obama replied, “the new law is not about me. It’s about the next generation of kids coming up.”
He then showed a little pique, saying, “You just think it’s neat to ask me about my smoking,” rather than ask about the new law.
Then came confessional time. “Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes.”
But does the president smoke on a daily basis? “No.”
He added: “I don’t do it in front of my kids. I don’t do it in front of my family.”
Obama drew laughs from the press corps when he said, “I’m 95% cured. There are times where I mess up.”
But returning to his earlier point, he said the important issue is the new tobacco legislation he signed Monday. That, he said, can help reduce the number of new smokers in the future.
-- Steve Padilla
The Ticket goes inside politics several times each day. Click here for Twitter alerts on each new item. Or follow us @latimestot
Photo: Jim R. Bounds / Bloomberg News
smoking cigarettes is a handicap.
Posted by: jc | June 23, 2009 at 02:03 PM
OK, so the President is human. Smoking is one of the most difficult habits to kick short of Heroin. Stress leads most smokers to smoke more, so I think it's only natural that he falls off the wagon every once and a while. I wish him well in his pursuit of kicking his habit.
Posted by: Des | June 23, 2009 at 02:46 PM
Anyone who smokes knows darn well that you can't just fall off the wagan sometimes when smoking LOL! So he still smokes, God is this honest of him, NO it isn't!
Posted by: NoNo | June 23, 2009 at 04:49 PM
Smoking is a nasty habit and anyone who smokes gives others a bad name by having the smoke smell on them.
Either you smoke or you don't.
I don't.
Posted by: Not Me | August 28, 2009 at 03:23 PM