On Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams took some time out from reporting the news of the day in order to fawn over President Obama's shirtless athletics on a beach in Hawaii, proclaiming: "...the photos that leaked from the President's vacation that may reverberate with middle aged men everywhere."
As still shots of Obama in his bathing suit appeared on screen, Williams announced: "The photos that come out today may make it tougher for men of a certain age who go to the beach for summer vacation this year because a lot of guys are now going to be expected to dive for every football that comes remotely close to them. This is the 50-year-old President of the United States on New Year's Day in what appears to be a hardcore beach football game."
More recently, in an interview with outgoing presidential assistant Reggie Love on Rock Center, Williams praised the Obama family: "...like a retro almost 1950s American family, that there's a – kind of a wholesomeness about them. They play board games, they play on the floor of the living room with the dog, they're not – the girls aren't allowed a lot of TV and social media."
Here is a transcript of Williams' January 4 item on the Obama vacation photos:
7:18PM ET TEASE:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Up next here tonight, the photos that leaked from the President's vacation that may reverberate with middle aged men everywhere.
7:22PM ET SEGMENT:
WILLIAMS: The photos that come out today may make it tougher for men of a certain age who go to the beach for summer vacation this year because a lot of guys are now going to be expected to dive for every football that comes remotely close to them. This is the 50-year-old President of the United States on New Year's Day in what appears to be a hardcore beach football game. Somebody snapped these pictures even though the President was on the grounds of a protected U.S. Marine base on Oahu during the First Family's ten-day vacation.
