The president's speeches may need to be accompanied by a laugh track from now on, considering the crickets he received at his appearance in Community College of Allegheny County, in Oakdale, Pa., on Wednesday. Although he tried to tout his new spending program, both Obama's talking points and attempts at humor didn't go over so well:
At the end, when the president walked back from the podium to smile and wave at the roughly 60 people in the bleachers 20 feet behind him, he faced a unfriendly wall of faces. The White House video of the bleacher’s front rank shows three men with their hands crossed, one with his hands stuck in his pockets and one who let his arms fall by his sides.
Hm, I guess not all millennials are as enthralled with the 'Hope and Change' president as they were in 2008. The community college students standing behind the president weren't the only ones who were unimpressed:
Some of Obama’s applause lines fell so flat that no one is heard to respond, not even among the main audience, which was padded with his political supporters.
“I mean, there’s been great progress in this area. You’ve earned a great nickname — ‘Roboburgh’ — because you’ve got high-tech plants and workplaces that are adding jobs faster than workers can fill them,” Obama said, to silence.
His punchlines were just as popular:
The White House’s transcript of Obama’s speech includes the laugh lines that few of the almost 300 attendees laughed at.
“Hello, Allegheny County! (Applause.) Joe and I decided it was time for a guys’ trip. (Laughter.) Actually, Michelle and Jill wanted us out the house. (Laughter.) So we decided to take a little road trip,” says the transcript, even though the video shows the laughs were scattered and muted.
Sounds like the joke's on him. Watch more of the painful footage below: