Obama votes next to Aia Cooper (left)
President Barack Obama was in the voting booth Tuesday morning, minding his own business while casting his early ballot in Chicago, when an African-American man walked by, pointed at his girlfriend and uttered words the president possibly has never heard: “Don’t touch my girlfriend.”
The guy’s girlfriend, Aia Cooper, was voting in the booth next to the president. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“Did he really just say that?” Cooper said, amazed and mortified.
“I really wasn’t planning on it,” Obama responded, never looking up from the ballot screen.
“I am sorry, please excuse him,” the woman said.
“There’s an example of a brother just embarrassing you for no reason,” Obama continued.
“Embarrassing!” the woman echoed the president.
“Just for no reason whatsoever,” Obama said.
“And now, you’ll be going back home and talking to your friends — what’s his name?” the president asked.
“Mike,” Cooper answered.
“‘I can’t believe Mike. He’s such a fool,'” Obama said, impersonating the woman.
“He really is,” she agreed.
Obama continued: “’I was just mortified. But, fortunately, the president was nice about it.'”
“I am freaking out right now!” she interjected.
“So it’s all right,” Obama continued.
After a brief pause, the president said, “Mike seems like a decent guy.”
“This is not happening!” a mortified Cooper said, shaking her head.
After he was done voting, a smooth Obama put an exclamation point on it.
“Give me a kiss and give him something to talk about,” the president said, as he gave Cooper a hug and a peck on the cheek. “Now he’s really jealous.”
Later, Cooper spoke to Chicago’s ABC affiliate and said, “He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Just the cheek. Please, Michelle, don’t come after me!”
