David Axelrod: "Witchcraft" Caused Presidential Seal to Fall
On CBS's "The Late Show with David Letterman" last night, White House senior adviser David Axelrod explained what he thought had caused the presidential seal to fall from the podium during a speech by President Obama on Tuesday night: "Witchcraft."
"I've been giving this a lot of thought," Axelrod joked to host David Letterman, during an appearance on the show Wednesday night. "You know, we've been here almost two years, done five hundred speeches probably, never happened before, right? And I can only think of one thing: Witchcraft."
Axelrod was presumably referencing Delaware's Republican Senate nominee, Christine O'Donnell, who has recently come under fire for having made comments in the past about how she has "dabbled into witchcraft."
Axelrod also said he thought Fox News had contributed to the promotion of false notions that Mr. Obama was not born in America. "I find the whole thing very bewildering," he said, when asked by Letterman where he thought such rumors had been born.
"But there is that strain, and it's always been there in our politics.These are times of great change and stress, so you see some of those things come out. But it is no doubt promoted by our friends at Fox and others, and that's part of the politics we have to deal with."
Letterman and Axelrod also joked about real estate magnate Donald Trump's alleged prospectivepresidential campaign.
"It requires a big ego to run for president," Axelrod laughed. "I don't think he could handle that."
Axelrod threw another jab at Fox News when questioned about potential presidential candidacies by Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin, saying that "a lot of the names you hear, all [of those people] work for Fox News - so if they all run for president, there's going to be a lot of openings over there."
The Obama adviser did acknowledge to Letterman an affection for Sarah Palin, however. "She has a special kind of charisma," Axelrod said. "I have a soft spot for her, Dave, because I was at the Vice Presidential debate - and, you know, she winked at me."
Watch President Obama laughing off the seal's fall here:
