President Barack Obama, speaking to thousands of supporters during a celebrity-led fundraiser in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theater, on Sunday poked fun at himself for his poor debate performance. The fundraiser was headlined by Katy Perry, Earth, Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder, and Obama noted how they “just perform flawlessly, night after night.†Then President Obama added, “I can’t always say the same,†poking fun at himself, in a charming and self-depricating way.
“Later in the speech, while reminscing about his 2008 campaign, he noted that he ‘goofed up’ at times in that campaign, too,” Politico reports:
Earlier Sunday, senior Obama aide David Axelrod explained to CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Obama’s debate effort came because he was “taken aback by the brazenness” of Romney’s statements.
“The president showed up with the intent of answering questions and having a discussion, an honest discussion of where we will go as a country, and Romney showed up to deliver a performance and he delivered a very good performance,” Axelrod said. “It was completely unrooted in fact. It was completely unrooted in the positions he’s taken before.”
Robert Gibbs, the former White House press secretary said on “Meet the Press” yesterday, “It’s not rocket science to believe the president was disappointed in the expectations he has for himself,” noting the president knows he performed poorly. He added, “”I think you’re going to see a very engaged president that is ready and willing to call out whichever Mitt Romney shows up.”