Give comedian Jon Stewart a gold star sticker. The host of The Daily Show was President Barack Obama’s toughest interviewer during the 2012 election cycle, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Thursday.
Carney sat down with CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett at The George Washington University, in front of a auditorium packed with college students, for a question-and-answer session. Given the audience, Garrett asked about some of Obama’s lighter media appearances, such as his recent interview on ‘Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis.’ Carney pointed out that while some people might decry those appearances as unprofessional for the sitting president, they achieved what the White House wanted: more viewership, especially with young people.
“I think you look back at 2012 and the series of interviews the sitting President of the United States gave — probably the toughest interview he had was with Jon Stewart,” Carney admitted. “Probably the most substantive, challenging interview Barack Obama had in the election year was with the anchor of The Daily Show.”
“What does that tell you?” Garrett followed up.
“Uh — I think you guys should all examine it and write about it,” Carney quipped.
Carney bestowing that honor on Stewart is certainly a backhanded insult to Garrett and his fellow national reporters, but the Press Secretary didn’t stop there, going on to praise the comedian for his news skills.
“That’s a broader discussion about what media is, what traditional media are today,” the Press Secretary continued. “But it’s also, I think, a reflection that somebody like Jon Stewart is actually a very smart, sophisticated both consumer of and presenter of the news. He just packages it in a way that draws eyeballs, and young eyeballs — which is what we were looking for.”
Discussing the ‘Between Two Ferns’ appearance, Carney said that most presidential speeches are barely covered in the evening news, and that a non-traditional format such as Galifianakis’ show allowed the White House to drastically expand its viewership. Obama’s appearance with the the actor was successful from more than just a viewership standpoint, however.
Following October’s failed rollout of the health care website, the White House desperately needed more Obamacare signups, especially young, healthy people. And according to Carney, the President’s appearance on ‘Between Two Ferns’ in March actually drove traffic to HealthCare.gov.
“It contributed to what some of you may know was a huge surge in enrollment in March,” he said. “You probably know less about that than you know how bad it was in October, but that’s ’cause good news doesn’t get the kind of coverage bad news does. So, it worked.”
