Tobacco.org

Obama Refers to His Own Smoking Habit as He Signs Bill 

There are fewer touchier questions inside the White House than this: Is Mr. Obama still smoking? One administration official declined to answer on Monday, but pointed out that the president spoke in the present tense, “I know how difficult it can be to break this habit,” as opposed to, “I know how difficult it was to break this habit.” . . .

As Mr. Obama shook hands with the people on hand for the outdoor ceremony, he wandered near an assembled group of reporters. Dan Lothian, a correspondent for CNN, asked, “Mr. President, how difficult has your struggle been with smoking?”

The president – standing a couple feet away – did not reply to the questions. On the campaign trail last year, Mr. Obama publicly discussed his repeated attempts to quit smoking.

A few minutes later, a similar question came up at the daily White House press briefing. Robert Gibbs, the president’s press secretary and close adviser, demurred when asked directly if Mr. Obama was still smoking.

“I haven’t probed any deeper than the statements that I’ve given you over the past several days,” Mr. Gibbs said. “As he has told me, it’s something that he continues to struggle with as somebody like millions of Americans have.”

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