Leaked Obama Video: “I didn’t know America took ‘Yes We Can!’ so literally”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretly-recorded video footage of President Obama was leaked on Friday morning, revealing the shocking truth behind the infamous “Yes We Can” and “Hope” mantras of his historic 2008 campaign. The footage, taken backstage at this year’s Democratic National Convention, depicts the president preparing for his speech while aides adjust his tie and his top campaign advisor, David Axelrod, converses with him.

“I mean, what did they expect?” Obama is heard saying, regarding the still-lagging state of the economy three years after its meltdown. “They knew what we meant when we said, ‘Yes We Can.’ They knew not to take it literally.”

“Sir, with all due respect,” Axelrod responds, “I’m not sure they did.”

Obama then goes on to explain that the ideas he meant to convey with the “Yes We Can” and “Hope” refrains were more along the lines of, “Yes We Could’ve If It Weren’t for Bush,” and “Hope That We Can Keep America from Total Collapse Even Though It Ain’t Looking Too Good, to Be Honest.” “Clearly,” he tells Axelrod in the video, “that’s not all going to fit on a poster. That wasn’t obvious to them? Seriously?”

The caveats of the 2008 campaign’s most memorable slogans are damaging news with less than seven weeks until Election Day. While most Americans find admissions of this nature shocking from a candidate and president who has prided himself on being so forthcoming, many admit that in retrospect Obama’s statements make perfect sense.

“When you think about it, he clearly couldn’t have been that optimistic,” said Marianne Lamonte, an Obama supporter from Macon, GA, sightseeing at the White House on a Washington, D.C., vacation. “It was all ‘Yes We Can, Yes We Can!’ during the election, then the minute he got into the Oval Office it was, ‘Change takes time, guys. It takes time.’”

Other voters on the street echoed Lamonte’s sentiments and proved that hindsight is indeed 20-20. “I guess it was a little too good to be true,” Sam Rochelle, a senior at George Washington University, told Newslo.

“You can’t blame the guy, though,” Rochelle added. “Those posters looked damn good. He would’ve screwed up the whole aesthetic if he didn’t trim down the slogan.”

As expected, conservatives have begun to pounce on the incumbent president, accusing Obama of deceiving the American public and riding his lies all the way to the White House. While political analysts unanimously agree that the footage could have some negative effect on the Obama reelection campaign, the latest polls indicate that Americans still find President Obama 4,000% more honest than his opponent, Mitt Romney.