By Frank James

In his interview with Associated Press reporter Jennifer Loven today, she asked him why it took so long for him to react after news spread last Thursday that Michael Jackson had died.

Loven went further, saying that e-mails she has received suggested that some part of the black community was upset with the president for not responding quickly with a statement acknowledging Jackson's important contributions to American pop culture.

Obama wasn't having any of it. As the AP reports:


Obama said he didn't see any controversy in the fact that he did not issue a formal public statement upon Jackson's death, and said he was unaware of any dissatisfaction in the black community with his response.


"I know a lot of people in the black community and I haven't heard that," Obama said.


The president said he grew up on Jackson's music and "I still have all his stuff on my iPod."


"I think that Michael Jackson will go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers," Obama said. "His brilliance as a performance also was paired with a tragic and in many ways, sad
personal life."

I have to admit to surprise at how long it took the president to say something about Michael Jackson. When reports of Jackson's death were confirmed last Thursday evening, Obama was hosting members of Congress at the White House for a luau. He made no statement there and really issued no public comments until today.

Obama said he wasn't asked about it until today but that isn't true. I saw at least one instance where a reporter shouted a Michael Jackson question to him earlier in the week. It was after a White House statement he made on energy on Monday. He ignored it.

But in the president's defense, when he held a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the day following Jackson's death, he wasn't asked for a reaction to the entertainer's passing even though reporters had a good opportunity to do so.

In any event, there has been no written statement from the White House on Jackson which is unusual after the death of such a monumental figure.

When African American historian John Hope Franklin died in March, the White House issued an official statement from the president. But the White House issued no such written statement from the president noting Jackson's passing, an omission noted by reporters at White House press secretary's briefing last Friday.

6:58 - July 2, 2009

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