Obama opted for ESPN over GOP convention

Aboard Air Force One en route to Charlottesville, Va., White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked by reporters whether President Obama watched any of the Republican convention.

From the White House pool report:

"He did not,” he said. “I was with him and afterward he was working on his briefing books and reading a lot of material, watching sports, but not watching the convention...He had other things to do.”

Reporters pressed him about why Obama decided not to tune into the GOP festivities in Tampa.

“...He has enormous respect for broadcast reporters but he gets most of his news through reading...While we were monitoring the storm, mostly when the TV is on and the president is in the room, it's mostly ESPN,” Carney said.