With tongue firmly in cheek, President Barack Obama has revealed that he asks the special service to keep an eye on young men who come to visit his daughters at the White House.
An interview with GQ magazine contains the following exchange:
‘Has anyone come to the White House and picked up your older daughter (Malia) for a date?’
‘No, but I’ve seen some folks glancing at her in ways that made me not happy.’
‘Tell the Secret Service, “Just take out that guy over there”’?
‘Just keep an eye on him.’
The interview covers a number of quite different topics for the President, including the fact that Obama was still a smoker when he was elected seven years ago.
Asked to detail the ‘number of cigarettes you’ve smoked in the White House since you got here?’ Obama replied: ‘Zero in the last five years. I made a promise that once health care passed, I would never have a cigarette again. And I have not.’
Reminded that his wife, Michelle, has been approached to host her own show, Oprah style, after their years in the White House come to an end in 2016, Obama said: ‘And if that’s what she wants to do, I’m okay with her making a whole lot of money. There’s nothing wrong with that.’
As for wild rumours that Obama wanted to find a way to hack the US Constitution to get an un-achievable third-term in office, he replied: ‘Anybody who thinks I could get away with telling Michelle I’m going to be president any longer than eight years does not know my wife.’
You can read the whole interview here.
