Obama LGBT fundraiser joke

AP

Did-he-or-didn’t-he reports lit up the blogosphere Thursday about President Barack Obama’s possible allusion to oral sex during a gay and lesbian fundraiser in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Word of the “joke” seems to have originated from a press pool report from the Dallas Morning News:

He warmed up with some jokes about the first lady’s appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show. “Michelle outdoes me in pushups as well,” he said, after saying that she’s taken some criticism on her technique “because she doesn’t go all the way down” – a line that he let hang, naughtily, provoking laughter from the crowd.

“Did President Obama Just Make a Blowjob Joke?” BuzzFeed wondered. Politico originally called it “Obama’s double entendre” before swapping in the title, “Obama’s joke?” (The URL still includes the words “obamas-risqu-joke.”)

But a video clip of the speech doesn’t make it seem Obama intended it to be that way at all: He delivers the line as a punchline, but seems taken aback by the audience’s interpretation. As the laughter continues, he seems to flash a bit of annoyance as he waits for it to subside — more “irritated” than “naughty.”

The Los Angeles Times had a similar interpretation:

Before launching into his serious remarks, the president seemed briefly caught off-stride when the audience interpreted as off-color a joke he made about a push-up competition between DeGeneres and his wife, initiated by the talk show host in February.

Watch below and decide for yourself: