Obama enjoys cars, coffee, chat on Seinfeld web show
He's not a comedian, and going for a coffee run is out of the question, but Barack Obama has nonetheless starred in an episode of Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."
In the latest in a long line of quirky appearances designed to reach a somewhat hipper audience, the US president features in the opening show of the seventh season of Seinfeld's popular web series, which was posted late Wednesday.
Obama "has gotten off just enough funny lines to qualify for getting on this show," Seinfeld muses as the legendary US comedian drives a silver-blue 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray through the White House gates.
As the show's name suggests, Seinfeld ordinarily takes fellow comedians for a drive in an exotic car to a diner or a coffee shop, but a burly Secret Service agent blocks Seinfeld and Obama from leaving the White House grounds.
Instead they drive in circles around the Washington mansion, and then Obama shows off the interior of the presidential armored limousine, nicknamed "The Beast," before heading into the White House staff restaurant for coffee.
"I could call a nuclear submarine right from here," Obama quips from inside the car, adding that it has seat warmers.
The two men engage in amusingly banal banter, with Obama revealing he only wears one brand of underwear -- and it's all the same color.
But "it's not cool, generally, wandering around (the White House) in my underwear," he jokes.
Obama also reveals that he polls very well with the "zero-to-eight demographic."
"They love me -- partly because they think my ears are big, and so I look a little like a cartoon character," Obama says.
The viewer also learns that Obama believes a "pretty sizable percent" of world leaders are out of their minds, and that he likes to swear to relieve tension.
The president, who is entering his final year in office, has appeared on several unusual shows, perhaps most notably on "Between Two Ferns" with Zach Galifianakis, in which the deadpan comedian hilariously feigns total ignorance of Obama and his policies.
Obama jokes that his motivation for appearing with Seinfeld is to encourage viewers to sign up for his signature health-care program. He makes an awkward pitch at the end of the show.
Obama also recently appeared on an episode of "Running Wild with Bear Grylls" in Alaska to highlight climate change.
Not everyone was amused by the Seinfeld show, however.
"Given all the problems facing our country, doesn't the office demand better use of the president's time?" one reader wrote in the comments section on the Hollywood Reporter website.
Watch online: http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/president-barack-obama-just-tell-him-you-re-the-president