Toward the end of his annual speech to the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in the nation’s capital Saturday night, President Obama got “angry.” Aided by Luther, his “anger translator” (a character played by Comedy Central’s Keegan-Michael Key, from the TV show Key and Peele), President Obama launched into an epic tirade against climate deniers on Capitol Hill.
For those who aren’t familiar with the set-up of the skit featured on Key and Peele: “No-drama Obama” (played by Jordan Peele) can’t risk getting angry in public, so Luther translates what he’s really thinking, behind all the political softball rhetoric. It’s quite brilliant.
When the real Obama got around to mentioning the big challenge of climate change on Saturday, Luther chimed in, filling in Obama’s supposedly unspoken rage: “California is bone-dry! It looks like the trailer for the new Max Max movie. You think Bradley Cooper came here because he wanted to talk to Chuck Todd? He wanted a glass of water! Come on!”
Eventually, though, Obama didn’t need his anger translator anymore:
“Look at what’s happening right now. Every serious scientist says we need to act,” Obama said, pitch and volume rising. “The Pentagon says it’s a national security risk. Miami floods on a sunny day, and instead of doing anything about it, we’ve got elected officials throwing snowballs in the Senate! It is crazy! What about our kids?! What kind of stupid, short-sighted, irresponsible…”
Luther finally intervenes:
“With all due respect, sir? You don’t need an anger translator. You need counseling.”
