Of all the Obamas, Barack has been the slowest to adopt Snapchat. First lady Michelle launched an official account in June, older daughter Malia got caught playing beer pong in a September video, and younger daughter Sasha recorded her dad lecturing her at the dinner table about social media.
But the president has finally snapped.
“People, this is Barack Obama. If I can figure out how to Snapchat, you can figure out how to go vote,” said the president, speaking into the phone “selfie” style.
“Sasha gave me a tutorial, by the way,” he added.
It was Obama’s first official interview on the content-sharing app, speaking with reporter Peter Hamby on Good Luck America, a video stream found on Snapchat’s discover channel.
Hamby and his team followed Obama around for a day in Cleveland, Ohio, where he hosted a rally on behalf of Hillary Clinton.
It showed him talking to the crowd, joking about Donald Trump being a working-class warrior – “Come on, man!” Obama said – and gave viewers a glimpse of what it’s like to ride around in a presidential motorcade.
Driving in the motorcade, Hamby said: “It’s just like getting on the 405 [the infamous traffic-clogged LA interstate] but it’s not fucking hell. Just running some red lights, no big deal.”
The video is heavily edited, and includes graphics, interviews and flashbacks to old 2008 campaign footage.
Obama spoke about how his 2008 campaign used social media so well partly because he just “hired a bunch of 25- and 26-year-olds that were all into it”.
He said Clinton was also great at involving young people. “One of the things I think Hillary understands is bringing young people into the process,” he said.
Snapchat excels at offering a behind the scenes perspective. Before Obama addressed the crowd in Cleveland, a snap showed him backstage meeting the woman who would introduce him. She said she was scared, and he reassured her by saying she’d do great and signing a copy of her speech.
“I always sign this ahead of time. It gives you good luck, plus you can sell it on eBay,” said Obama, autographing the women’s speech.
