Barack Obama And Kanye West

Yesterday ABC News reporter Terry Moran caused a bit of a kerfuffle when he tweeted about President Obama calling Kanye West "a jackass" during what was supposedly an off-the-record event. The White House is clearly mortified that this display of Presidential displeasure got out to the public, so they plan to address the controversy in an Oval Office address that Obama will deliver tonight. We've obtained a copy of the prepared remarks.

Good evening. My fellow Americans, I come to you tonight in the spirit of apology. Yesterday I made an intemperate statement about Kanye West in what I was told was an off-the-record interview. Now, that is no excuse for my language and candor, so let me be very clear: What I said was wrong. If you have young children watching right now, I suggest that you ask them to leave the room for a moment, because what I'm about to say may be offensive. Not in any kind of indoctrinatey way, but my choice of language was inappropriate, and for that I am deeply sorry. Okay, did you send Junior to bed? Good. Let's speak frankly.

Now, I want to explain something: When I castigated Kanye West for his boorish behavior at the VMA Awards, I was still a bit riled up. And, while we all get emotional in the heat of the moment, I think the American people need to understand that their President is not normally one to run off at the mouth. Calling Kanye a jackass was, as they say, my bad. Were his actions the actions of a jackass? Absolutely. He was acting stupidly. But was it okay for me to call him a jackass? No. And for that I am deeply sorry.

It would be easy—very easy—for me to brush off this controversy by explaining that I was simply expressing a viewpoint held by most Americans: Kanye West acted like a jackass. We all know that. We know it when we go to school, we think about at work, we feel it deeply in our places of worship. We cannot dispute Kanye's jackassery. But I want to be honest here: I should not have said that Kanye was a jackass, no matter how jackassy he was. To those who were offended, or shocked, or deeply hurt, I offer a full apology and a promise that I will do better in the future. I may not be the first President to call Kanye a jackass, but I hope to be the last.

As a nation, we are only strong when we come together. We can have our disagreements, yes, but if we are not able to operate with a spirit of civility, we cannot live up to the great democratic ideals that this country was founded on. I recently received a message from a fellow named Joe. Now, Joe lives in South Carolina. Last week, Joe was at work, and he disagreed with something his supervisor said. Joe shouted out a rude and unprecedented phrase, for which he was roundly denounced. Joe tells me that he regrets letting his temper get the best of him, and he's very sorry. And I think there are a lot of Joes in this country. Although not as many as the media would have you believe, because honestly, it's all about the screaming these days. Otherwise it doesn't get reported. But back to Joe: I understand his passion, and I understand how badly he feels about the way he let it affect his demeanor. And I think we can all learn a lesson from his apology.

And so that is why, tonight, I am asking for your forgiveness in the same way that Joe sought forgiveness. I want to repeat once more that I deeply regret calling Kanye West a jackass. In the America that I know we all believe in, the America we salute, the America we stand up and fight for, we are better than that, and I should not have used those words, no matter how true. To be perfectly clear, that language is unacceptable. It's unacceptable coming from someone like Joe, and it's especially unacceptable coming from the President of the United States. I think we can use this as a teachable moment: Let us, from this day forward, never refer to Kanye West as a jackass again, even if we think the microphones are off and the cameras aren't rolling. Thank you. Also, while I have you here, what's the deal with Lady Gaga and that whole "having a penis" thing? Did she whip it out? I stopped watching after Kanye's major asshole maneuver. Anyway, God bless you, and God bless America.