Obama on 'Tonight Show' Talks Gaddafi, Bin Laden, Iraq Troop Withdrawal (VIDEO)
President Barack Obama appeared on NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" Tuesday night, discussing everything from major current events such as the death of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and the Occupy Wall Street protests, to Halloween.
"Halloween's coming up, and (Michelle's) been giving, for the last few years, kids fruit and raisins in a bag," Obama said of his wife. "I said, 'The White House is going to get egged if this keeps up.' We need to throw some candy in there, a couple Reese's Pieces or something."
On a more serious note, Obama addressed how the "Occupy Wall Street" protests are a direct result of the American people's frustration and anger over the fact that they feel they are not able to get ahead because of corporate greed and those in power.
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"Traditionally, what held this country together was the notion that if you work hard, if you're looking out for your family, if you're showing up to work everyday and doing a good job, you've got a chance to succeed," explained Obama.
The president added, "Right now it feels to people like the deck's stacked against them and the folks in power don't seem to be paying attention to that. So if everybody's tuned in to that message, and we are working every single day to figure out how to give people a fair shake and how to make sure everybody's doing their fair share, then people won't be occupying the streets because they'll have a job and they'll feel like they're able to get ahead."
In addressing the issue of Gaddafi's death, the president said Gaddafi was given numerous opportunities to let go of his power during the Arab uprising and to peacefully transition to democracy, but that the Libyan dictator failed to do so.
"Obviously, you never like to see anybody come to the kind of end that he did," Obama said. "But I think it obviously sends a strong message around the world to dictators that people long to be free, and they need to respect the human rights and universal aspirations of people."
However, the highlight of the president's appearance came when Leno asked him if he'd been following the GOP debates.
"I'm going to wait until everybody's voted off the island," Obama joked, implying he'd been following CBS' hit show 'Survivor.' "Once they narrow it down to one or two I'll start paying attention."
Here is an excerpt from President Obama's discussion with Jay Leno:
