Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger went after President Obama during his D.C. concert Monday night, insinuating to the audience that the president is “listening in” to the show much like the National Security Administration did with Americans’ phone calls and Internet records.
“I don’t think President Obama is here, but I’m sure he’s listening in,” Jagger reportedly told concertgoers near the beginning of the band’s sold-out show.
The Stones’ concert at the Verizon Center in the nation’s capital was the final stop on their “50 & Counting” anniversary tour.
According to concertgoers on Twitter, the audience collectively booed at the mention of Obama’s name. Whether the boo was directed at Obama himself or Mick Jagger’s mentioning of the president remains unclear, however.
Mick Jagger just said President Obama and everyone booed. And i’m not embellishing.
— RAS (@RASinners) June 25, 2013
The comments weren’t particularly out of line for Jagger, who admitted last month that he’s a “closet conservative” – in reference to the right-leaning British party, not the ideology.
Obama and Jagger have a bit of a history. According to a biography on the president by David Maraniss, Obama is not only a big Stones fan but even makes a “wicked impression” of the Brit. The president, blues musician B.B. King, and Jagger also sang “Sweet Home Chicago” together during a White House event in 2009.
While Obama’s “Orwellian” surveillance tactics have been the butt of many jokes recently and creative tweets and memes of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden are sweeping the internet, Jagger’s public comment and witty remark was unexpected nonetheless.
