Jon Stewart To Obama: ‘Are We Demanding Too Much Of You?’

During President Obama’s last interview on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the comedian famous for criticizing the media questioned Obama about his opinions on the media.

“You love ’em. They love you,” Stewart explained before asking, “Are we focused on the wrong things? Are we demanding too much of you, too much of government? Are we inflammatory?”

Obama replied that there were different kinds of media but that “some get on my nerves more than others.”

He also pointed out that the media got distracted too easily. “[I]t gets distracted by shiny objects and doesn’t always focus on the big tough choices and decisions,” he said.

Obama’s appearance on the Daily Show was taped this afternoon in New York City, and covered by the White House press pool.

As a reaction to the media atmosphere, Obama explained, politicians operated in “soundbites.”

“It’s hard for us to get one conversation,“ he explained.

Obama added that perhaps he was too cautious with his media strategy early on in his term, moving “too slow” to redesign and reengineer the press office.

“There’s a learning process that’s taking place,” he said.