When President Barack Obama addressed the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner last week, he invited along Comedy Central’s Keegan-Michael Key, who plays Luther on the TV show Key and Peele, to serve as his “anger translator”.
But when the speech turned to climate change, the roles were suddenly reversed.
“For those who aren’t familiar with the set-up of the skit featured on Key and Peele,” West explains, ‘No-drama Obama’ (played by Jordan Peele) can’t risk getting angry in public, so Luther translates what he’s really thinking, behind all the political softball rhetoric. It’s quite brilliant.”
When Obama turned his remarks to climate change (video starts at 3:31), he initially kept his famed reserve, and Key did the translating. “California is bone-dry!” he said. “It looks like the trailer for the new Mad Max movie.”
But soon, with Key getting increasingly nervous by his side, Obama let his own remarks get more heated. “”Look at what’s happening right now. Every serious scientist says we need to act,” he said. “The Pentagon says it’s a national security risk. Miami floods on a sunny day, and instead of doing anything about it, we’ve got elected officials throwing snowballs in the Senate! It is crazy! What about our kids?! What kind of stupid, short-sighted, irresponsible…”
At that point, Key intervenes. “With all due respect, sir? You don’t need an anger translator. You need counselling.”
