Barack Obama joked about his “lipstick on a pig” remark and got some shots in at his Republican opponents during an interview with David Letterman on Wednesday.
“This is, sort of, silly season in politics — not that there’s a non-silly season in politics,” Obama said of the debate over his remark.
Obama added: “And, you know, it’s a common expression in, at least, Illinois. I don’t know about New York City. I don’t know what you put lipstick on here. But in Illinois the expression connotes the idea that if you have a bad idea — in this case I was talking about John McCain’s economic plans — that just calling them change, calling it something different doesn’t make it better. Hence, lipstick on a pig is still a pig.”
When asked about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), he acknowledged the excitement she has generated among Republicans but noted that she and John McCain share the policies of President Bush.
“You know, we didn’t know much about her,” Obama said. “And I think that, you know, obviously, she’s a skilled politician and she has energized their party. But what we, I think, are pretty confident about — we’ll know if she does more interviews with people and talks to them — about what her ideas are.”
“I think what we’re going to see is that she shares John McCain’s view that the policies of George W. Bush have worked pretty well.”
Watch the interview below. In Part 1, Obama talks about the “lipstick” line. In Part 2, he focuses on foreign policy.
Part 1:
Part 2: