That’s what the British Prime Minister is claiming. It came up in Monday’s White House press briefing. CBS Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett asked Press Secretary Josh Earnest about the claim.
One last thing,” Garrett says in the video that follows. “Cameron said over the weekend that the president calls him ‘bro.’ Is that true? And is there any other pet names he has for world leaders?”
The Weekly Standard focuses on Earnest’s response, which draws on a reaction popularized by Washington Nationals
outfielder Bryce Harper, who once answered a question he didn’t like by retorting, “That’s a clown question, bro.” When Earnest channels Harper, most of the people in the room have a laugh, though a couple of groans can be heard as well.
But let’s back up a step to Garrett’s initial assertion: Obama addresses a fellow world leader as “bro?” I can appreciate that Obama lacks the awareness of presidential protocol that would preclude his kissing German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the cheek — a handshake is the only acceptable greeting — or that would dictate he put his latte down long enough to return a proper salute from a “subordinate” in the military. I am also aware that Obama — despite having been photographed riding a girl’s bike, wearing mom jeans, and even videotaped (perish the thought!) mangling the spelling of respect in a tribute to soul legend Aretha Franklin — still fancies himself Mr. Cool and, therefore, somehow above reproach. He is not … and it’s high time someone in his inner circle let him in on the truth.
Don’t count on that someone being Earnest (with or without the initial cap), since at the end of the video, the press secretary claims that Obama and Cameron “have a special relationship.” It’s unlikely there is little love on either side ever since Obama, several weeks into his first term, called Cameron a “lightweight” and has since treated “Britain with sneering contempt.”
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