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Obama Quotes MSNBC, Campaign Slogan During Live Press Conf. on Hurricane: ‘Lean Forward’

Oct. 30, 2012 3:30pm

During his remarks on Tuesday about Hurricane Sandy, President Obama made a curious remark that will surely strike some as interesting.

While talking about how he’s instructed federal agencies to cut through red tape when it comes to helping victims of the storm, he uttered the slogan of liberal cable channel MSNBC and even his own campaign: “lean forward.”

“So my instruction to the federal agency, has been: do not figure out why we can’t do something, I want you to figure out how we do something,” he said while at Red Cross headquarters. “I want you to cut through red tape. I want you to cut through bureaucracy. There’s no excuse for inaction at this point. I want every agency to lean forward and to make sure we are getting the resources where they’re needed.”

Listen to the comments below:

Ready for some coincidence? As soon as Obama uttered the slogan, it just so happened that the MSNBC phrase scrolled above the president’s head:

Obama quotes lean forward during hurricane press conference

So was the statement an accident or just a coincidence? Maybe. But it’s been a phrase the administration has been using in remarks this past week. As the Washington Times points out, Obama even used it one other time on Tuesday:

President Obama may have suspended his campaign rallies due to Hurricane Sandy, but he managed to squeeze in his campaign slogan — intentionally or not — during a briefing Tuesday with federal emergency officials.

“The president made clear that he expects his team to remain focused as the immediate impacts of Hurricane Sandy continue and lean forward in their response,” the White House said in a statement about Mr. Obama’s video-teleconference that he conducted from the White House Situation Room. “Forward” is the slogan of his re-election campaign.

Mr. Obama canceled all campaign events on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as the storm lashed the East Coast, causing billions of dollars worth of destruction, resulting in several deaths and interrupting power for millions of residents.

He was joined on the video conference by Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and other federal officials.

However, it should also be noted that “leaning forward” seems to be part of FEMA’s official slogan, too. Check out this report, titled, “2012 The State of FEMA; Leaning forward: Go Big, Go Early, Go Fast, Be Smart.”

That means there are three major groups with the same slogan, which could explain some of the overlap. In fact, the irony has been noted before, even as far back as 2010. Press Secretary Jay Carney also used the similar phrase “forward-leaning” in describing the hurricane that hit around the time of the Republican National Convention.

That could explain it. But then again, it’s not out of the question that there could be some exploiting of the coincidence less than a week before the election (we know what Rahm Emanuel thinks).

You can listen to Obama’s full remarks below:

​This story has been updated to note the FEMA connection to the slogan.

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Comments (152)

1 2 3 4
  • QuincySmith
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:56pm

    oblama will travel to New Jersey tomorrow to survey damage from (hurricane) Sandy. I could be wrong about the guy, I thought he was a coward, but to actually go somewhere to view his broken promise (“this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow…”), that is courageous.

    Report this comment

    QuincySmith  
    • floridareader
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:34pm

      That is also called photo-op

      Report this comment

      floridareader  
    • ObamaForward_OverTheCliff
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:39pm

      “Obama Quotes MSNBC, Campaign Slogan During Live Press Conf. on Hurricane: ‘Lean Forward’ ”

      NEWS UPDATE – correction:
      “Obama’s TELEPROMPTER Quotes MSNBC’s TICKERTYPE, Campaign Slogan During Live Press Conf. on Hurricane: ‘Lean Forward’ ”

      And what’s this about “Lean Forward”? Hmmm … sounds familiar … oh yeah … today’s communists quoting yesterday’s communists:

      “The Great Leap Forward of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China (CPC), reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961. … The Great Leap ended in catastrophe, resulting in tens of millions of excess deaths. Estimates of the death toll range from 18 million to 45 million, with estimates by demographic specialists ranging from 18 million to 32.5 million.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward

      Report this comment

      ObamaForward_OverTheCliff  
    • Rokytop
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:48pm

      Obama, said “We leave nobody behind” I guess this is his slogan for everything except “HIS FOLKS” at the State Department. I think Obama’s new slogan should be what the Demos have said for years about their opposition. Obama now says, “Just let ‘em die.”

      Report this comment

      Rokytop  
    • kat747
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:55pm

      It is also part of his job description to give the taxpayers money to help people in a disaster zone,
      unfortunately it comes
      AFTER vacations, golf, spending stimulus money, giving money to countries that harbor terrorists,
      lying to the American People about Benghazi, campaigning for three and ahalf years for the 2012 election, taking $716 Billion out of Medicare, taking over $400 Billion from the unions, etc.
      Barry or whatever his legal name is has a LONG way to go before 11/6 for me to reconsider my low opinion of him.
      As Michelle said about “the first time she felt proud of the USA” when Barry was elected,
      doing something American for the hurricane victums just might be “the first nice thing I could say about this President”.

      Report this comment

      kat747  
    • kryptonite
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:58pm

      @OBAMA – OVER THE CLIFF
      Excellent observation. A rehash of a commie slogan. You beat Glenn to this nugget. :)

      Report this comment

      kryptonite  
    • kryptonite
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 5:10pm

      kat747
      …doing something American for the hurricane victums just might be “the first nice thing I could say about this President”.
      —–
      Don’t make me laugh. He’s an opportunist. He’s doing something for himself, because his election is at stake. He never helped TX during the wildfires or the Gulf Coast during/after the oil spill.

      Report this comment

      kryptonite  
    • westtitus
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 5:47pm

      And the guys in Benghazi were not worth cutting throught the “red tape” and sending help? I cannot believe this idiot!

      Report this comment

      westtitus  
    • Ran60
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 6:23pm

      “Lean Foreward”??

      More like BEND OVER if O gets re-elected.

      Report this comment

      Ran60  
    • Irenaeus
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 6:32pm

      KRYPTO…actaully Rush, Glenn, and Hannity all pounced on this earlier this year when the DNC-Obama camp’s launched thier full campaigns…just say’n

      Report this comment

      Irenaeus  
    • Joel Knows
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 6:35pm

      Rockytop, maybe Ambassador Stevens and the others killed in Lybia weren’t considered one of his people. If he did consider them “his people” then he has forgotten already what he did 6 short weeks ago, or maybe what he failed to do.
      I’m not sure who he considers his people, but I have never felt like I was one of them. In the list of states he declaired on Saturday he left out mine, Virginia and while we didn’t get hit as hard as some of the states we did feel the effect of Hurricane Sandy, and there was damage, and people lost electricty during the storm. I don’t remember him doing much last year when we got hit by Irene either, and that time we lost power for a few days along Coastal Virginia.

      Report this comment

      Joel Knows  
    • fastfacts
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 8:12pm

      Have you seen the idiots at MSNBC trashing Romney for helping out the Red Cross. What is wrong with them ( http://www.thedailycandidate.com/video/2012/oct/msnbc_trashes_obama.html )

      Report this comment

      fastfacts  
    • Bluebonnet
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 9:08pm

      So now it’s ‘lean forward’ another marxist type slogan like forward. In the book I’m reading, he had a new slogan that said something like …..bla bla.. foundation…..bla bla, and he was told not to use it. He asked why and was told it sounds too much like a woman’s girdle. haha
      What’s wrong with American slogans? How about lean backward? That’s where we’ll be if he wins.

      Report this comment

      Bluebonnet  
    • US_SOLDIER
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 10:23pm

      Has anyone looked up the way “Forward” has been used in the past? Just look at Wikipedia, they have an entire section on the word. Heres a few who have used the word:

      -Avante! (“Forward!”), publication of the Portuguese Communist Party
      -Avanti! (Italian newspaper) (“Forward!”), publication of the Italian Socialist Party
      -Eteenpäin (“Forward”), Communist Party USA Finnish-language newspaper in the United States
      -Új Előre (“New Forward”), a Communist Hungarian-language newspaper in the United States
      -Vorwärts (“Forward”), publication of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
      -Vorwärts! (“Forward!”), published from Paris in 1844, in support of Communism
      -Vorwärts, newspaper of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

      The slogan “Forward!” reflected the conviction of European Marxists and radicals that their movements reflected the march of history, which would move forward past capitalism and into socialism and communism. Interesting slogan for a man to chose for his campaign slogan when he has millions to spend and surely someone researched this word prior to selecting it? Or maybe he is counting on the public being so nieve as to not understand the roots of the word like in ’08 with “hope and change” but no one bothered to ask “change to what?” Well we figured out that change he was talking about by now. Here it is 7 days until election and Obama, MSNBC, and FEMA are all using the word and no one is even whispering about it

      Report this comment

      US_SOLDIER  
    • Secret Squirrel
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 10:50pm

      .
      What’s another term for “Lean forward”?
      Bend over.

      Report this comment

      Secret Squirrel  
    • kryptonite
      Posted on October 31, 2012 at 4:25am

      @IRENAEUS
      actaully Rush, Glenn, and Hannity all pounced on this earlier this year when the DNC-Obama camp’s launched thier full campaigns…just say’n
      —–
      Thanks. I was “unplugged” for a while, so I probably missed it.

      Report this comment

      kryptonite  
    • poorrichard09
      Posted on October 31, 2012 at 8:24am

      Ya know, “lean forward” sounds like another way of saying “bend over” as in “bend over, here it comes again!”
      Of course he meant to say it-who uses phrases like that in conversation?

      Report this comment

      poorrichard09  
  • malleus-maleficarum
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:55pm

    Ignore the law
    Cut through the red tape
    Just get it done
    Disregard ‘the beaurocracy’
    Lean forward

    Remember:
    …We’ve got your back

    Report this comment

    malleus-maleficarum  
    • HKS
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:12pm

      I think that is the same thing he said about Benghazi and we know how that ended.

      Report this comment

      HKS  
    • westtitus
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 5:49pm

      Murderer is all i can say about this guy! Have absolutely no respect for him in the least.

      Report this comment

      westtitus  
  • BODYBAG
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:54pm

    “So my instruction to the federal agency, has been: do not figure out why we can’t do something, I want you to figure out how we do something,” he said while at Red Cross headquarters. “I want you to cut through red tape. I want you to cut through bureaucracy. There’s no excuse for inaction at this point. I want every agency to lean forward and to make sure we are getting the resources where they’re needed.”

    The American people are STILL WAITING for you to apply these same principles to LIBYA.

    INCONSISTENCY.
    Thats why we’re REPLACING YOUR LAME *** in just under a week from today.

    Report this comment

    BODYBAG  
  • OniKaze
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:53pm

    “Lean Forward” is NOT the slogan for MSNBC… It’s actually “Lean Left, FAR Left…” But that didn’t do well in focus groups…

    Report this comment

    OniKaze  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:10pm

      It may as well be the slogan for MSNBC – they are as left leaning propaganda machinery controlled by Obama as one can find; and FEMA is “coming to the rescue’ probably with demands for concessions from the states giving them unprecidented control over the damaged areas and thus the coming elections as well.

      Report this comment

      Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • Bluebonnet
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 9:13pm

      LEAN forward congers up a lot of questions about what it really means.

      Report this comment

      Bluebonnet  
  • huey6367
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:52pm

    The two are in bed with each other so I would expect them to mimic each other at some point.

    Report this comment

    huey6367  
    • RJJinGadsden
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:46pm

      Apparently staff writers for BSNBC have volunteered to operate 0bama’s teleprompter. Lean Forward and this won’t hurt as much!

      Report this comment

      RJJinGadsden  
  • Zeke48
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:52pm

    Lean Forward is what a Odumbo said to Larry Sinclair, when they were doing lines in Chicago. Ryan Googling Larry Sinclair and Obama if you need a good laugh.

    Report this comment

    Zeke48  
  • Swalker
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:51pm

    “We leave nobody behind” He had the Balls to say that, This guy is the lowest and I am sick of him,
    We deserve far more than this and he needs to go live in his new 40 million dollar shack in the islands.
    Good by Mr Obama

    Report this comment

    Swalker  
  • mzee26
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:51pm

    Never let a good crisis go to waste…

    Report this comment

    mzee26  
  • QuincySmith
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:50pm

    If “no bureaucracy, no red tape” is a good idea during an emergency, why is it not good policy period?

    Report this comment

    QuincySmith  
  • blackfeather
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:49pm

    …yep…lean forward, and bend over.

    Report this comment

    blackfeather  
    • huey6367
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:52pm

      that’s what I thought when I heard it.

      Report this comment

      huey6367  
    • HKS
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:26pm

      I thought of the guys in Benghazi waiting for that help when he said that to them.

      Report this comment

      HKS  
  • Watermain
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:47pm

    I can hear the sighs of relief from Obama all the way out on the west coast. What’s that Mr. President, you’re glad to get a break from Benghazi…I’ll bet you are. But it will be back to haunt you, soon.

    Report this comment

    Watermain  
  • LestWeForget
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:46pm

    It’s NOT a coincidence. This is what he does. He’s the Campaigner in Chief and, I’m starting to feel pretty certain, he’s heartless!

    I’ve submitted this to The Blaze more than once, but maybe now it will seem more newsworthy. After Benghazi, before going to Vegas, Obama met with State Department employees to “comfort” them after the loss of their friends and co-workers. The fear…that they could be next placed in harm’s way, must have been somewhere on their minds.

    How did he comfort, fresh of the DNC Convention? With his Campaign Slogans of Hope, Change, and Need more Time.

    I KID YOU NOT. From Wash Examiner, 3rd paragraph. These are words for HOPE, he references CHANGE (NEVER “DEATH”), and GIVE IT TIME.

    Obama describes it this way:
    “I had a chance to go to the State Dept. to comfort some of the friends and co-workers of the the folks who had fallen and I reminded them that as hard as things are sometimes, as difficult as CHANGE is that if we’re resolute, if we don’t give up (HOPE), if we don’t give in (HOPE), if we don’t become cynical (HOPE), if we continue to be realistic about how hard CHANGE is but also keep in our hearts that sense of idealism (HOPE) and sense of purpose then OVER TIME good things happen.” (Parentheses and contents are mine.)

    http://washingtonexaminer.com/obama-compares-his-campaign-volunteers-to-embassy-staff-killed-in-libya/article/2507830#.UJAdVIXoWHk

    P.S. I will NEVER tell a grieving loved one,

    Report this comment

    LestWeForget  
  • draconian_dave
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:43pm

    It should read bend over.

    Report this comment

    draconian_dave  
  • Freevoice6
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:42pm

    Not only did he ‘Lean Forward” but he “No one will be left behind.” I just about had a stroke. This Man is the lowest form of human have ever known. People who vote for him deserve him, but too bad the rest have to live with the mistake.

    Report this comment

    Freevoice6  
    • LestWeForget
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:47pm

      WOW. The nerve. “Nerve” at all the wrong times, in all the wrong ways, for all the wrong things, that is.

      Report this comment

      LestWeForget  
    • 13th Imam
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:52pm

      He left Four Murdered Americans behind in Bengazi.

      Report this comment

      13th Imam  
    • PATTY HENRY
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:57pm

      BUT, as you’ve no doubt noticed..this is how OBAMA, EMANUEL, AXELROD, PLOUEFFE et al ALWAYS do things…they know how to stab with the knife and then twist it. I swear the SOB is the ANTI-CHRIST. He knows how to irritate and frustrate … KEEP UP THE PRESSURE ABOUT BENGHAZI. HE is the most despicable person I’ve ever even known of. THIS is a learned
      ability that OBAMA has…to be AS OBNOXIOUS as is possible. KEEP RAISING HELL about BENGHAZI!!!!

      Report this comment

      PATTY HENRY  
    • Freevoice6
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:26pm

      I suspect in his campaign the phrase “Lean” is being replaced with “Duck” and “Forward” really means “Retreat”

      It is evident that Obama is using every trick in his failed play book to find a way to win this election including “Waging the Dog” to divert the attention away from 4 dead Americans in Libya, Dead Border guards in Fast and Furious, and Angry Black Man campaign adds that have turned millions of Americans and poll points away from him.

      Come On 11/6, lets be through with this Person and let him get on with the apology tour.

      Report this comment

      Freevoice6  
  • gyro
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:42pm

    WAIT dont be mean !! the teloprompter told him to say it !

    Report this comment

    gyro  
  • goahead.makemyday
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:41pm

    In certain places in America it’s never a good idea to “lean forward” or “bend over” or “drop the soap” maybe once we vote O out we can get a criminal investigation going into Solyndra and F&F and send him to one of those places.

    Report this comment

    goahead.makemyday  
  • The Jewish Avenger
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:40pm

    Obama should’ve said the complete slogan!

    “When it appears that we’re on the proverbail cliff ready to fall off
    And it seems all it takes is a little push…
    …Lean forward, I’ve got your back.”

    Report this comment

    The Jewish Avenger  
  • TSUNAMI_22
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:38pm

    We’re standing on the edge of the fiscal cliff and he wants us to “lean forward”?

    Tell you what Mr. Marxist tool, you lean forward and I’ll hold onto your coat-tails (wink, wink, nod-nod…know what I mean)?

    Report this comment

    TSUNAMI_22  
  • tonypro
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:37pm

    Not an accident.

    He’s been campaigning now for over 4 years, and that’s all he knows.

    Repeat it enough times, and eventually people will believe it.

    Sorry, not all people, only the mindless drones that follow him.

    Report this comment

     
    • LestWeForget
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:49pm

      YEP. Read my comment below about the post-Benghazi “comfort” he gave using CAMPAIGN SLOGANS. It was never recognized by anyone in the news, as far as I know. It’s sickening how his only mode is Campaigner In Chief. I weep for our country.

      Report this comment

      LestWeForget  
  • CWPrequired
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:36pm

    I saw that on MSNBC while eating lunch yesterday and almost threw my pizza at the TV. “Lean forward” and take another one up the. We get it.

    Report this comment

    CWPrequired  
  • term limits for congress
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:36pm

    Here that, Chris Crispie Creme?? Apparently the storm is one big political event for BHO.

    Report this comment

    term limits for congress  
  • AvengerK
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:36pm

    The same photo op..sorry..briefing…the Bamster also said..”as Americans we don’t leave anyone behind sprinkled with a few obligatory “folks” here and there.
    I wanted to tell him about Tyrone Woods in Benghazi and ask him why Woods and three other Americans were left behind by Obama after they pleaded for help not once but at least three times…and if Woods handn’t disobeyed orders..many more Americans would have been left behind by the Bamster. He makes me sick.

    Report this comment

    AvengerK  
    • Owt_Raged
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 6:59pm

      You know, people keep talking about the 4 who died. You realize there were 30 others there that he also turned his back on? It wasn’t just 4 it was over 30 people he was willing to sacrifice in order to not take attention away from his campaign.

      Wonder how many more he is willing to sacrifice?

      Report this comment

      Owt_Raged  
  • CatB
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:36pm

    He can’t stop campaigning .. it isn’t in his DNA to care about ANYONE but himself.

    R & R 2012! PRAY AND VOTE.

    Report this comment

    CatB  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:38pm

      Clinton was also a practioner of the “endless campaign”. The Bamster thinks he can emulate Clinton and get a second term. Someone needs to remind the Indonesian Prince that he’s not running against Bob Dole and Ross Perot this time.

      Report this comment

      AvengerK  
    • U.N.hater
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:40pm

      Lean Forward <<< is the slogan used by the downlow in chicago.hehehehe

      Report this comment

      U.N.hater  
    • LestWeForget
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:50pm

      U.N. Hater – “Do you have Barack’s Back?” the candidate’s WIFE asks. I’m usually not crass but I’ve had it with this America-hater.

      Report this comment

      LestWeForget  
    • U.N.hater
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:19pm

      @lestweforget: NOPE!

      Report this comment

      U.N.hater  
  • AdrianS
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:35pm

    The slogan should say, on Obama’s part, “LEAN FRAUD-WARD”.

    As for me, I’m voting for Romney/Ryan. Truth, Integrity, and Leadership is what we’ll get with Romney/Ryan.

    Report this comment

    AdrianS  
    • tonypro
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:39pm

      I love that “Fraud- Ward”

      Hope you don’t mind if I use it.

      :-}

      Report this comment

       
    • TSUNAMI_22
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:41pm

      I’m probably going to vote the same simply because I’m sick and tired of seeing the Stalinist stand-up routine that was never even funny in the first place.

      Report this comment

      TSUNAMI_22  
    • TSUNAMI_22
      Posted on October 30, 2012 at 4:02pm

      @ tonypro

      I love that “Fraud- Ward”

      Hope you don’t mind if I use it.
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      How about “Faux-word”?

      Report this comment

      TSUNAMI_22  
  • justangry
    Posted on October 30, 2012 at 3:33pm

    Forward all the way back to before the Magna Carta was signed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmY6AXy4TnA&feature=youtu.be

    Report this comment

    justangry  
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