Hope and Fail

Obama still smokes, after quitting in 2008

President Obama admitted he still “struggles” with his smoking habit after the press asked about it in a press conference.

But I’ve said before that, as a former smoker, I constantly struggle with it. Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No. I don’t do it in front of my kids, I don’t do it in front of my family, and I would say that I am 95 percent cured, but there are times where — (laughter) — there are times where I mess up. And, I mean, I’ve said this before. I get this question about once every month or so, and I don’t know what to tell you, other than the fact that, like folks who go to AA, once you’ve gone down this path, then it’s something you continually struggle with, which is precisely why the legislation we signed was so important, because what we don’t want is kids going down that path in the first place. Okay?

The fact that the president of the United States sneaks a Marlboro Red once in a while is no big deal — except that he says he wants the rest of America to quit smoking.

The question came up the day after the president signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. In February he hiked the federal tax on each pack of cigarettes.

What’s more, Obama told Ellen Degeneres back in 2008 that he had quit smoking because his wife, Michelle, insisted he stop before he ran for president. From the Associated Press at the time:

Barack Obama said he has successfully quit smoking cigarettes despite the pressures of a closely contested and lengthy presidential campaign.

‘‘I’ve been chewing on this Nicorette, which tastes like you’re chewing on ground pepper — but it does help,’’ the Democratic candidate said in an interview that aired Thursday on ‘‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show.’’

His wife, Michelle, had used his smoking as leverage when the two were discussing whether he should run for president. She would agree only if Obama agreed to give up smoking.

“I had been sneaking three cigarettes, four cigarettes a day for a while, and she said if you’re going to do this you’ve got to stop — precisely because the stress was going to increase, and it’ll just get worse,’’ Obama said. ‘‘So that’s an example of my wife making me a better man once again.”

Was he telling the truth during the campaign?