President Barack Obama wasn’t pulling a Maureen Dowd when he found himself face-to-face with a man in a horse head mask Tuesday night in Denver.
“The bear,” as the President has taken to calling himself when he breaks free of the confines of the White House, spent about 10 minutes shaking hands and chatting with supporters on the street after he chowed down on pizza and beer with local residents, according to a White House pool report. The pool reporter noted the onlooker wearing the horse head mask, but wrote “it’s unclear what message he hoped to convey to the president.”
Obama reacts as he is greeted by a man wearing a horse-head as he walked the streets of downtown Denver. pic.twitter.com/QNqnXKzwzm
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) July 9, 2014
The horse head mask has become a meme in recent years, ensuring that the unusual encounter would go viral.
Afterward Obama shot some pool with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) at Wynkoop Brewing Co., which the governor co-founded, and posed for a photo with a gorilla statue.
Rounding out the wild night, an onlooker asked the President if he wanted to share some marijuana at one point. Obama responded with a laugh when asked “Do you want to hit this?”
This post has been updated.
Sorry, but this is so incredibly stupid. Here’s your chance to meet President Obama, something I would love to do, and you think to yourself “hey, this is a great opportunity for me to practice some stupid internet micro-meme…I’ll wear a horse head”! Brilliant!
I get where you’re coming from, but wearing a horse head mask to meet the President both ensures that the President remembers it and that you net a ton of views.
Fiat promo?
Click through to the full size photo. I’m pretty sure the woman in the white jacket is a zombie.
Leaving the horsehead aside, I have to say for a guy who’s painted as aloof and distant, Obama’s got an incredible and seemingly effortless charm. Where’s Chammy? I’m sure she’d agree. : )