President Obama apologized for comments about Special Olympics
President Barack Obama issued an apology in reference to a comment he made about the Special Olympics while appearing on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno.
During his appearance on the show March 19, the president was talking about how terrible his bowling skills are. He compared his bowling skills to the athlete’s skills in the Special Olympics. (Which is for athletes who have disabilities).
After realizing what he did, the president called Special Olympics chairman Tim Shriver to apologize.
On “Good Morning America,” Shriver said the president “expressed his disappointment and he apologized in a way that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate this population.”
”I think it’s important to see that words hurt and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can be seem as humiliating or a put down to people with special needs do cause pain and they do result in stereotypes.”
Shriver also said the president expressed interest in inviting some of the Special Olympics athletes to the White House to play basketball or to bowl.
He insults them then he invites them to the White House. Is that how he operates now?
On a serious note, I believe the president is genuinely sorry for his remarks. He was talking with Jay Leno, so he was probably just trying to be funny, which is okay.
But next time he should be funny by making jokes about Republicans or his other political rivals, and he should leave the Special Olympics alone.
Tim Henley
