Obama Does the Tango, Gets Panned

Critic: It was 'inconsistent with the seriousness of the day'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 24, 2016 7:44 AM CDT

It takes two to tango, and when one of those is a US president, the boobirds come out in force. During a state dinner in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, President Obama danced the Argentine tango with professional dancer Mora Godoy. A YouTube video shows Obama decline her invitation several times before finally relenting. They were soon joined on the dance floor by Michelle Obama and a male dancer. Obama "was telling me he didn't know how to dance [tango]," Godoy says, per the Telegraph. "I told him 'just follow me.'" The president managed "to hold his own," reports NPR. But critics are pouncing.

On MSNBC's Morning Joe, Richard Haass of the Council on Foreign Relations said the dance "was a tremendous mistake" and "inconsistent with the seriousness of the day," as was Obama's appearance at a baseball game between Cuba's national team and the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday—the same day as the attack on Brussels. George W. Bush's former communications director said the tango and game were a "communications crime," per Politico. Democrat Steve Rattner added Obama "could have handled some of that differently." (Obama recently danced with a 106-year-old.)

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