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President Obama talks Kanye West on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’

President Obama during a taping of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in Hollywood.
(SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images)
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President Obama had several things on his mind when he stopped off in Hollywood on Thursday to visit “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

In addition to showing a sense of humor with the all-President Obama edition of Kimmel’s regular “Mean Tweets” sketch—he laughed as he read, “How do you make Obama’s eyes light up? Shine a flashlight in his ears,” and added, “That’s pretty good”--the chief executive also got around to the subject of Kanye West.

The rapper recently told Oxford University students that he can “call Obama out of the blue,” and that the president “calls the home phone, by the way.”

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Obama, who famously referred to West as “a jackass” after he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009, told Kimmel that “I’ve met Kanye twice.”

“The first time was when I was a senator and he was with his mom. He’d just gotten big. He’s from Chicago, so they wanted to meet, and he was very soft-spoken and very gracious. He was a young guy, and hadn’t quite come into his own.

Then, Obama continued, “about six months ago, he came to an event and, look, I love his music and he’s incredibly creative.”

As for that hot line between the Oval Office and the West-Kardashian homestead?

“I don’t think I’ve got his home number,” Obama said. “I do love his music, though. He’s terrific.”

He and Kimmel, however, missed the opportunity to fold in the latest Mean Tweet-ish post about West and Kardashian that was flying around Facebook on Thursday as the president wended his way through the Los Angeles area.

Over a photo of Kimye was the question: “If Kanye and Kim were both drowning, and you only had time to save one…what kind of sandwich would you make?”

Follow @RandyLewis2 on Twitter for pop music coverage

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