President Barack Obama has done network interviews, cable news, town halls, Reddit AMAs, and enough press conferences to fill a lifetime. But nothing could have prepared him for Zach Galifianakis.
In a new episode of the wonderfully awkward Funny or Die series Between Two Ferns, Obama sits down with Galifianakis for what might be the most uncomfortable presidential interview ever willingly agreed to. The conversation somehow manages to cover Healthcare.gov, Obama’s inability to run for a third term, his birthplace, Justin Bieber, and, naturally, Zach’s ongoing concerns about a few mysterious spider bites.
As always, Galifianakis plays the oblivious, painfully inappropriate host, lobbing absurd questions and insults with a completely straight face. Surprisingly, Obama keeps pace the entire time, firing back with enough dry one-liners that it almost feels like he’s done this before. Whether he’s poking fun at the comedian’s career or shrugging off another birther joke, the president seems to be having way more fun than anyone expected.
Of course, the whole thing doubles as a clever push for Healthcare.gov before enrollment closes, but somehow it never feels like a commercial. That’s probably because Galifianakis refuses to let the conversation stay on topic for more than thirty seconds at a time.
The interview wraps up with a pretty great reveal about where Between Two Ferns is supposedly filmed. Let’s just say George W. Bush was apparently a much bigger Funny or Die supporter than anyone realized.
Whether you agree with Obama’s politics or not, you’ve got to admit it’s not every day you see the President of the United States willingly walk into Zach Galifianakis’ world. Thankfully for the rest of us, he survived.
