Yikes: Obama Compares Economic Crisis to a Hurricane...During an Interview With a New Orleans Reporter

Barack Obama gave an interview to the New Orleans news station WWLTV recently, and some are cringing at his use of the word "hurricane" to describe the economic crisis.

The exchange began with reporter Karen Swensen asking:

When you took office, in New Orleans the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent. It’s now at 7.2 percent. We’ve had 4,000 people lose their jobs just between April and May. What would you say to those constituents, to those voters who would say, 'I’m not better off, with all due respect, than I was four years ago, I’m worse'?

Predictably, Obama began by blaming Bush for "most" of the job losses, before saying that his administration has been trying to clean up after a "financial hurricane."  He responded:

Well, if you look at what’s happened, not just in Louisiana, but across the country, most of those job losses initially came in the first six months of me being in office, right as we were hitting the worst part of the crisis. And we’ve been doing clean-up ever sense. I mean, this is essentially like–it was a financial hurricane that hit, and we’ve been cleaning up ever since.

Watch a short version of the clip, which aired on Monday, below:

Or watch the long version of the clip, via WWLTV:

Perhaps the president thought that, since he was in New Orleans, voters would empathize with a "hurricane" situation. But its possible he didn't think twice about the word choice.  Either way, the response has not been positive.

Commenters on the conservative site Weasel Zippers remarked:

-"...And somebody thinks this is the smartest man in the room?"

-"...Can you imagine having an ego the size of the sun and the insight of a seven-year old child?"

-"...Next Obama a cappella: Here I am … Rock you like a hurricane!"

With unemployment stuck at 8.2%, it would probably be better for the president's re-election campaign if he didn't use the word "hurricane" to describe the country's economic crisis, even if he isn't taking responsibility for it.  But to make the comparison in New Orleans, where a real hurricane ravaged the city less than a decade ago, is another blunder entirely.

(H/T: Washington Free Beacon)