Update 2: Schwarzenegger sticks up for Obama.
The sad part of the show is that Obama compared his bowling to the Special Olympics. It seemed out of character. He should know better, considering that Maria Shriver, whose mother started the Special Olympics, supported Obama, and White House officials, including VP Joe, recently attended a ceremony for the Special Olympics. But those things happen and, yes, Obama gets a pass because he quickly apologized to Tim Shriver who heads the Special Olympics.
The sad part of the show is that Obama compared his bowling to the Special Olympics. It seemed out of character. He should know better, considering that Maria Shriver, whose mother started the Special Olympics, supported Obama, and White House officials, including VP Joe, recently attended a ceremony for the Special Olympics. But those things happen and, yes, Obama gets a pass because he quickly apologized to Tim Shriver who heads the Special Olympics.
AP: On his way back to Washington on Air Force One, Obama called the chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, to say he was sorry — even before the taped program aired late Thursday night.
"He expressed his disappointment and he apologized in a way that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate this population," Shriver said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America." Obama, Shriver said, wants to have some Special Olympic athletes visit the White House to bowl or play basketball.
Still, Shriver said, "I think it's important to see that words hurt and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can be seem as humiliating or a put down to people with special needs do cause pain and they do result in stereotypes."
Shriver is the son of Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver and nephew of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, whose endorsement early in the Democratic primaries was critical to Obama winning his party's nomination.
Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters traveling with Obama that the president's offhand remark was not meant to disparage the Special Olympics, only to poke some fun at the commander-in-chief's bowling skills.
"He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world," Burton said.
