WASHINGTON - For Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the voice on her cell phone sounded eerily familiar.
“He sounded just like Obama,” she said on Thursday, referring to President-elect Barack Obama.
Sensing she was the victim of a spoof by a South Florida radio station, she promptly disconnected the call.
Trouble was, it was Obama.
A chagrined Ros-Lehtinen told the Fox News Channel that she also hung up on Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, when he called her back to explain it really was the next president on the line.
Both Emanuel and Obama tried to convince her the call was for real.
“Guys, it’s a great prank, really,” she said she told them.
It took a subsequent call from California Democratic Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to finally convince Ros-Lehtinen to talk to Obama.
To convince her that it really was Berman, she said she told him, “Give me the private joke that we share.”
Once Berman cleared that hurdle, Ros-Lehtinen was ready to talk to Obama. They discussed Cuba and Israel, she said.
REUTERS/Jason Reed (Obama speaks on with supporter on the phone)
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Well, if someone called *me* claiming he was Barak Obama, I wouldn’t just assume that person actually *was* who he said he was.
Would you?
Hard to know what to to: he’s not the president (so you can’t just call back to 1600 Penn).
BTW: Lynne - it was a prankster pretending to be Sarkozy (president of France).
- Posted by Bob KoureThis is a result of radio stations and their stupid pranks. I cringe when I see pranks played on people, including Punk’d and Candid Camera. Dishonesty to get a laugh is not funny to me.
- Posted by David WalkerSmart woman. Obviously not gullible like a lot of the posters on this board who thought she was dumb for being skeptical, given all of the recent political phone pranks.
- Posted by Tyrone@MTH:
I wouldn’t say that she’s dumb. If you were in government, which headline would you rather be mentioned in:
A: “Florida congresswoman hangs up on Obama twice”
B: “Florida congresswoman fooled into discussing national political strategy on Cuba and Israel with Obama impersonator; discussion broadcast in Florida.”
(for the geographically disadvantaged, Florida would be that tall pointy state located about 90 miles from Cuba)
Personally, I’d choose “A” myself. She was being overcautious. Radio personalities are stooping lower and lower in their bid for ratings.
Well, I’m male, so I wouldn’t choose the “congresswoman” part of the headline, but you get the idea…
- Posted by NateWhy wouldn’t she just ask them if she could call them back instead of hanging up? These people are ridiculous.
- Posted by mokaTo Blackhat:
What? Fanatical Kettle calling Pot…
- Posted by BlackHeartJudy, women like you who call other women dumb is what is setting back women in politics. Let me guess, you didn’t vote for Hillary because you didn’t trust her. And she’s paranoid because people like you ridiculed and called Palin dumb when she was pranked…perhaps she doesn’t want to be ridiculed, but as usual, no matter what a woman does, it’s the wrong thing and there’s something wrong with her. Judy, please don’t be dumb by demeaning other women. We get it enough from the guys.
- Posted by AMI don’t blame her for being careful. Unfortunately much of the “entertainment” media thinks its fun to make somebody look like a fool. Can you really blame a public figure for not wanting to be the butt of a joke? BTW, I voted for Obama and I don’t see how this has anything to do with a persons sex or political affiliation. It is all about someone not wanting to be publicly humiliated.
- Posted by Jim McCorisonMTH,
Not dumb, just overly caution after the joke that was played on Sarah Palin by a radio station pretending to be Russian leader Putin. If it had been a radio station prank and she fell for it everyone would be listening to the online version talking about how dumb she was to fall for it.
- Posted by Lynne[...] on Thursday, referring to President-elect Barack Obama. Sensing she was the victim of a … Florida congresswoman hangs up on Obama twice - Reuters Blogs posted by at 10:14 am [...]
- Posted by Star Wars Nexus » Florida congresswoman hangs up on Obama twice - Reuters BlogsWhy exactly is this in the news?
- Posted by LI think the sensible thing to do would have been to first determine that it actually was obama, and THEN hang up on him.
- Posted by AndreusTo “edwards:”
Why don’t we wait and see what kind of job he does for a year or two before we start campaigning for 2012? Honestly, campaigning for the guy at this point does absolutely nothing except convince me (and anyone else with an ounce of common sense) that you are either a party line left wing fanatic who should be shipped to a communist country, or a racist. (Yes, my freind, racism goes both ways.)
- Posted by BlackHatLooks like Republican women are going to set back women in politics by years. Gees, she’s as dumb as Palin.
- Posted by JudyI wouldn’t have called her back. Is she that paranoid. If so, why?
Funny…. she decided not to repeat Palin’s mistakes and got it wrong. Republicans cannot do it right no matter how they try it.
- Posted by RobThis is just an example of how clever Obama is in paving the way for a successful first time, and laying groundwork already for the 2012 race - cementing personal relationships with pols across the country. Smart! (ObamaAgain2012.com)
- Posted by edwardsWhat’s the “private joke” they share? Being elected in competitive districts?
- Posted by BenOh, please. The representative isn’t really THAT dumb, is she?
- Posted by MTHActually, Rep. Howard Berman was just in on the prank, too.
- Posted by MattNominate her for homeland security!
- Posted by Steve Spinella