Obama upstaged his anger translator at the White House Correspondents' Dinner


Constrained by decorum, President Obama at times appears unable to express the full heft of his emotions when dealing with difficult situations. Enter Keegan-Michael Key who, when playing Obama's fictional "anger translator," Luther, on the comedy Key & Peele, serves as the mouthpiece to the president's true thoughts and emotions.
At the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, Obama brought Key out to play that very role. Yet as Obama turned to obstreperous climate change deniers, he soon overtook Key as the voice of rage, prompting the comedian to leap in and save Obama from going too far.
"Instead of doing something about it [climate change] we've got elected officials throwing snowballs in the Senate," Obama said, his voice rising. "It is crazy."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"What about our kids? What kind of stupid, shortsighted, irresponsible bull—" he continued before Key cut him off. —Jon Terbush
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monuments
Speed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seat
speed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring push
Speed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additions
Speed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oil
Speed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymander
Speed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
-
Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting vote
Speed Read More than 51 legislators fled the state in protest of the GOP's plan to redraw congressional districts