According to reporters who were present, the president ducked out of the White House with his Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, after making remarks at an event on student loan debt earlier this afternoon. 'The bear is loose,' president Obama told reporters as he walked out of the building. Obama walked from the White House to a Starbucks one block over, where he ordered a Venti tea and spent eight minutes or signing autographs for Starbucks customers. On his way back, the president stopped to talk to a hotdog vendor and a group of construction workers. The president also instructed staff to keep press at bay. 'Let's test your wrangling skills,' he said, according to the White House pool report. Today's outing was the third time in the last month that the president has stepped out of the White House to take an unannounced stroll to a nearby destination, leading observers to believe that after spending the better part of the last five and a half years cooped up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the president is going stir crazy. Two and a half weeks ago the president decided to take an impromptu walk down the National Mall to and from the Department of Interior. A week before that, he and Vice President Joe Biden stopped by Shake Shack to have lunch with four construction workers. The president did not say why he visited Starbucks today, but it could be because the company's CEO has publicly backed Obama's efforts to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. |
综合外国媒体报道,当地时间6月9日下午,美国总统奥巴马和白宫办公厅主任丹尼斯•麦克多诺决定离开白宫、进行短暂“茶歇”。在进行完有关学生贷款相关事件的谈话后,他们甩掉记者、偷偷溜出白宫,走到附近的星巴克买了一杯饮料。 白宫官员对媒体说,出门前,奥巴马拍了拍她的后背,笑着说了一句“熊跑了”。 “逃跑”成功显然令奥巴马心情大好。他在星巴克逗留了大约8分钟,除买了一杯超大杯茶饮外,他主动同店员问好、握手,给店里的其他顾客签名留念。 在返回白宫的路上,他停下来与热狗摊老板和建筑工人攀谈。 看到身边的特勤局特工阻止路人靠近,他还开玩笑说:“让我们来测一测你们的放牧技巧。” 这是过去一个月里奥巴马第三次离开白宫后临时改变行程安排。有观察人士笑言,最近奥巴马多番“出逃”,这表明总统先生“被关入”白宫5年半之后,已经开始“发疯”。 半个多月前,奥巴马本应乘车前往美国内政部出席活动,结果他改变主意步行前往,让不少偶遇总统的行人直呼惊喜。在此之前,奥巴马和副总统拜登突然现身一家快餐店吃汉堡。 而媒体则认为,奥巴马此次光顾星巴克很有深意,“可能是因为星巴克的执行总裁曾公开宣布支持奥巴马将最低时薪提高至10.1美元”。 (译者 谌融 编辑 党超峰) 扫一扫,关注微博微信
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