Obama Visits WH Press Room

Lots of coverage all over the darn place.

“That’s the first and last time we’ll see him in here,” NBC’s Chuck Todd joked as the president went back to the Oval Office.

And Mark Silva writes:

Guess that’s the last visit.

AP Photos:

But the visit was purely social and when Politico’s Jonathan Martin asked substantive questions of the president, Obama grew irritated:

President Obama made a surprise visit to the White House press corps Thursday night, but got agitated when he was faced with a substantive question.

Asked how he could reconcile a strict ban on lobbyists in his administration with a Deputy Defense Secretary nominee who lobbied for Raytheon, Obama interrupted with a knowing smile on his face.

“Ahh, see,” he said, “I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can’t end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I’m going to get grilled every time I come down here.”

Pressed further by the Politico reporter about his Pentagon nominee, William J. Lynn III, Obama turned more serious, putting his hand on the reporter’s shoulder and staring him in the eye.

“Alright, come on” he said, with obvious irritation in his voice. “We will be having a press conference at which time you can feel free to [ask] questions. Right now, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you guys – that’s all I was trying to do.”

And one of FishbowlDC’s Guest Bloggers writes:

Our friends over at the White House tell us President Obama did a surprise walk-through of the Press Briefing Room this evening. He stopped to say he’s proud of his press secretary Robert Gibbs, who had his first White House briefing today, and that he gave Gibbs a congratulatory “fist bump” afterwards.

President Obama also revealed to his press corps that he’s already put a new backboard on the tennis court so that he can play basketball full-court.

When reporters threw serious questions his way, President Obama said he wouldn’t be able to come through if he just got grilled every time, but also shared that he’d hold a press conference soon.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.