It is said that Millennials are self-absorbed, but it turns out their idol is, too.
President Obama spoke to a group of young people in Berlin on Saturday, and during his speech and Q & A, he talked about himself a total of 270 times.
According to the president’s remarks, the Obama Foundation is making a push into Europe by supporting community organizers there to affect governmental change. (Hello, collusion? Influencing foreign governments?)
Obama began by regaling the audience with how many times he’s been to Europe.
“You know, it’s been over 10 years since I spoke to a slightly larger crowd,” he said, referring to the 2008 speech before 200,000 people when he was a presidential candidate.
“I’ve been back to Germany I think at least ten times. I’ve been to Europe countless times,” he said.
“I’m as excited to be here with you as I have been ever when I have come to Europe,” he said moments later.
“When I left office, or maybe a few months before I left office, I had to make some decisions about what I would do after the end of my presidency and I knew that I wanted to catch up on my sleep,” Obama told the crowd of 300.
“I was one of the youngest presidents elected,” he boasted, “which meant I was one of the youngest ex-presidents.”
“There’s only one of me,” Obama lamented, before saying the purpose of his foundation is to train people to be like he and Michelle, so he can “sit back and relax a little bit.”
“Now I’m not here to support any political party, I’ve held my last political office,” he said. “Michelle would leave me if I ever ran for office again.”
“I’m going to start taking some questions,” he said as his opening remarks concluded.
Recalling his time as an organizer, he said, “I wanted changed now. I wanted 100 percent of what I wanted,” he said.
“When I passed the Paris— or when I helped, uh, get the Paris agreement on climate accomplished,” he corrected himself.
“I know from experience in passing the healthcare law that I had to work on in the United States that that was not the ideal healthcare program that I wanted to set up, it was what I could get at the time,” he said.
Obama was asked about self-care, and without a hint of irony, he said, “When I was our age, I did a lot of writing. If I was writing well, it would take me out of myself. You become ego-less a little bit.”
All told, Obama said “I” 240 times, “My/Myself” 16 times, “Me” 13 times and “Mine” once.
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