Host Jon Stewart wonders if colonizing Mars would be easier than combating childhood obesity...First Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday capped a TV triple header for the launch of her new book with an appearance on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Mrs. Obama was clad in a dark blue dress and a statement necklace as she joked along with host Jon Stewart in his New York studio, discussing her Let's Move! campaign and her maiden effort as an author, American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America, now available nationwide (details about the book).
"You decided 'I'm going to take on this idea of getting children to eat well,'" Stewart quipped to Mrs. Obama. "Wouldn't you have been more successful with, let's say, colonization of Mars?"
Adding that he was the parent of two kids, Stewart added "unless you're planting cheeseburgers in this garden...um, no."
The idea for the Kitchen Garden began with her daughters, Mrs. Obama said, when Stewart asked what made her dig up the South Lawn.
"It was really my experiences as a mother, trying to get my kids to eat well," Mrs. Obama said. "What most people don't know is we're seeing an epidemic of childhood obesity, one in three kids, and we're spending billions of dollars in healthcare costs. In my life, I saw how that was happening. Busy parents don't have time to cook, eating out too much, activity is being eliminated from our schools."
No photos of Obama daughters Malia and Sasha appear in the pages of American Grown.
Stewart had more jokes when Mrs. Obama said that the average child spends 7 1/2 hours watching TV daily.
"Kids, if you're at home right now, daddy says you can beat that," Stewart said, turning to the camera. "You're not average. You can get to at least ten hours."
Mrs. Obama also appeared on ABC's Good Morning America and The View on Tuesday.
The interview, part 1:
| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Michelle Obama Interview Pt. 1 | ||||
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The interview, Part 2: President Obama, approval ratings, Vice President Joe Biden
The First Lady and Stewart also discussed the 2012 election, her high approval ratings, President Obama and his college drug use, and whether or not the kids are "safe" around Vice President Joe Biden.
"You have an approval rating that's like 85-90%," Stewart said. "You're ice cream."
"I'm vegetables," Mrs. Obama corrected.
But she doesn't "lord" her approval ratings over her husband during marital arguments, Mrs. Obama said, when Stewart quipped that he would. Asked if the President's decision making has changed--"is he Dark Lordish?" Stewart asked--Mrs. Obama said the President has remained consistent in his decision making. Asked if the loquacious Veep is a bad influence for her daughters, Mrs. Obama responded that her girls are "safe" around Biden, who is a "great friend." She avoided a question about the President smoking marijuana during his high school and college years; Stewart said these were like "the script of a Cheech and Chong movie."
"He was like many young people," the First Lady said. As his schooling progressed, the President "realized he could with do more with his life."
| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Michelle Obama Interview Pt. 2 | ||||
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*Videos courtesy of Comedy Central, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
