President Obama's Never Heard of Constituent Snooki

Commander-in-Chief fares poorly on "The View's" pop culture quiz

President Obama doesn't know who Snooki is and isn't about to offer his two cents on Mel Gibson, but he has heard that Lindsay Lohan is in jail.

The ladies of ABC's "The View" had no trouble getting the president to discuss race, war and the economy, but when they steered the klatch to popular culture, they found their guest was out of touch.

"I've got to admit, I don't know who Snooki is," Obama said when Joy Behar asked if the diminutive "Jersey Shore" starlet should "run for mayor of Wasilla."

Presumably, the folks that write the president's jokes know who Snooki is, because Obama made a crack in May at the White House Correspondents Dinner, saying Snooki, castmates J-WOWW and The Situation, along with House minority Leader John Boehner would be exempt from a new tax on tanning bed sessions.

When Behar asked if Gibson needs anger management, Obama reached into the political bag of tricks for a non-answer: "I haven’t seen a Mel Gibson movie in a while. Let me answer the Afghanistan question."

The reply left it unclear whether Obama knows Gibson is lately more famous for his audiotapes than his films. But he was up to speed on one recent tabloid development.

“Do you know that Lindsay Lohan is in jail?" Behar queried.

“I actually know that, yes,” Obama said.

And while Obama acknowledged he doesn't tweet, he did score a few more points on the pop culture ledger when the discussion turned to music and what is on his iPod.

“You name it, I’ve got it,” Obama said.

“I've got Jay-Z on there, I’ve got Frank Sinatra, I’ve got Maria Callas on there,” he said.

What about Justin Bieber, the teen sensation who performed at the White House for first daughters Malia and Sasha?

“I do not have Justin Bieber … he is a very nice young man,” Obama said.

The president also said he won't be at Chelsea Clinton's wedding this weekend. 

“You don’t want two presidents at one wedding! All the secret service, guests going through (metal detectors), all the gifts being torn apart,” Obama reportedly joked.

When pressed on whether he had indeed scored an invite the upstate New York affair, Obama said no, “because I think Hillary and Bill, properly, want to keep this thing for Chelsea and her soon-to-be husband.

“Sorry, ya'll probably will not be getting invited to Sasha’s wedding or Malia’s wedding, either,” he added.

Wednesday’s taping was not the first time Obama has appeared on “The View.” He last appeared as a senator in March 2008 and stopped by in 2004 while promoting his book “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.”

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