BO: Don’t forget, you promised to come to a game!
As President Barack Obama tries to gain more public support for his plan to avoid the fiscal cliff, he did an interview Thursday with Minneapolis’s Frank Vascellaro of WCCO-TV. Vascellaro, who traveled to Washington DC to meet up with POTUS, was given permission to ask five questions. So Frank asked about the fiscal cliff negotiations, spending cuts, trust on Capitol Hill, the medical devices tax (?), and… hockey!
Frank Vascellaro: Minnesota’s known as the state of hockey, and we’re under the NHL lockout right now. Would you be willing to intervene in that lockout?
President Obama: You know, look. I’ve got to say, because we’ve had an NBA lockout, we’ve had an NFL lockout during the course of my presidency, the president of the United States shouldn’t have to get involved in a sports lockout. My message to owners and to players is, you guys make a lot of money and you make a lot of money on the backs of fans, so do right by your fans. You can figure out how to spread out a bunch of revenue that you’re bringing in, but do right by the people who support you. And I shouldn’t have to be involved in a dispute between really wealthy players and even wealthier owners. They should be able to settle this themselves. And remember who it is that’s putting all that money in their pockets.
This is the second time Obama has addressed the NHL lockout since it began three months ago. On October 24th during an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Obama once again implored the NHL and NHLPA to remember the ones that are really suffering: the fans.
“Every time these things happen I just want to remind the owners and the players, you guys make money because you’ve got a whole bunch of fans out there who are working really hard, they buy tickets, they’re watching on TV,” Obama said. “Y’all should be able to figure this out. Get this done.”
Those comments didn’t work then. And his comments tonight won’t work either. But hey, regardless of your political affiliation, this is a message we can all get behind.
Now, Barry, sing us home!
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