NBC's Curry to Obama's Sister: 'What Void Do You Think You Filled In His Life?'
In a fawning interview with Barack Obama's half-sister Auma Obama on
Monday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry lobbed softballs about the
President: "...you describe an almost instan
taneous connection when you
met your brother Barack Obama. Can you describe why, how, you made this
instantaneous connection?...What void do you think you filled in his life?"
Citing Auma's new memoir, "And Then Life Happens," Curry pondered: "So I
wonder, reading the book, whether you think that filling these gaps,
for your brother, about how he knew his father, if you had not
been able to do that, if he would be who he is today? If he would have
been able to achieve becoming President of the United States?"
In response to that question Auma observed:
I would imagine that it's an important part of being a person and
having an identity. So, without that there would probably have always
been some void in his life. And if you don't feel complete, sometimes
you don't achieve as much as you would.
So, you know, he's a very whole person and I think he's very
comfortable with who he is. And you know, he really has a very positive
outlook on life. And I think all of that contributes to it. Because he
definitely knows who he is. And I hope that I can contributed to him
being able to find out who he is in a more complete way.
Curry urged Auma to talk more about how much her brother Barack wanted
to know his father: "...could you see in his expression, in his manner,
in his questionings, how much he craved, needed, to know who his father
was?" Auma replied: "...in telling him about his father, I was also
finding out about him as my brother." Curry added: "You told him things
he never knew before, he said, things like how your father used to talk
about him with pride. And this must have been, to some degree,
comforting to your brother."
In April of 2011, weatherman Al Roker conducted a similar gushing interview
with the President's other half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, even talking
2012 campaign strategy: "When you look back on the President's campaign
of hope do you see that – is it still that same message or has it had to
change, do you think?...If people are on the fence, what do you say to
them about 2012?"
Here is a full transcript of Curry's April 30 interview with Auma Obama:
8:45AM ET
ANN CURRY: Auma Obama heard stories growing up in Kenya of a younger
brother named Barack who lived in America, but she could never have
imagined that one day he would become President of the United States.
The two met when they were young adults and forged a lasting
relationship and she writes about it in her memoir called "And Then Life
Happens." Auma Obama, good morning to you.
AUMA OBAMA: Good morning.
CURRY: In this book, which was really a pleasure to read, you write
about being neglected, even abandoned, by your father. About feeling not
understood by your family. And yet you describe an almost instantaneous
connection when you met your brother Barack Obama. Can you describe
why, how, you made this instantaneous connection?
OBAMA: I think the main thing is that it's less about abandonment than
being misunderstood. And I guess it's got to do with the fact that I was
the only girl in a family of men and boys. And when I met my brother,
he – we have this instant connection, I was able to talk to him and he
really understood the things I was talking about. And I can't explain
why, but you know, it was just one of these situations where we met, and
it just clicked.
And the funny thing is, when I did come to America to meet him, I
initially was afraid that I might not like him as a person because I
didn't really know him. I knew about him all my life but I didn't know
him. So I had a plan around, you know, what am I going to do if I don't
like this person? And there was no question about it. I really felt that
I gave it too little time, because I only gave it ten days of spending a
month in America, because I was so concerned about not liking him.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: "And Then Life Happens"; President Obama's Sister on Life in Kenya & Beyond]
CURRY:
And ten days with him, so if you weren't going to like him it wasn't
going to go well. And so, it was good that you did. He said about that
first encounter in Chicago he said, he wrote, "I knew at that moment
somehow that I loved her so naturally, so easily, and fiercely." What
void do you think you filled in his life?
OBAMA: I think I gave him his – a part of his family that he didn't
have. You know, because a father is an important figure in everybody's
life. And everybody searches, even if you're adopted or you didn't know
your father, it's part of who you are, your identity. And that was a
part of his identity that he needed to get back. And I was blessed to be
able to be the person who was able to give him that and to share that
with him. And it was for me so special because it was not difficult to
do. He was always in our lives. He was always a part of our life. It was
just completing the circle by actually meeting him and then just
telling him things that he really ought to have known already.
CURRY: When he said to you, "Tell me something about my father," could
you see in his expression, in his manner, in his questionings, how much
he craved, needed, to know who his father was?
OBAMA: If I said, "Yes, I could" I would be – I can't say that.
Because, you know, I just responded to him basically. You know, when he
wanted to know, I wanted to tell. Because in telling him about his
father, I was also finding out about him as my brother. So I was gaining
as well. I was gaining the brother who to me in that instant was so
special, and I was so close to, but I really didn't know him that well.
So in our conversations we also getting to know each other. It was like a
holding of hands and walking this walk together. Where we had been
separate all this time. So for me was a wonderful experience, and I
think it was great, also, for us together to understand our father.
CURRY: You told him things he never knew before, he said, things like how your father used to talk about him.
OBAMA: A lot.
CURRY: With pride. And this must have been, to some degree, comforting to your brother.
OBAMA: Yes. I hope so. I speculate.
CURRY: So I wonder, reading the book, whether you think that filling
these gaps, for your brother, about how he knew his father, if you had
not been able to do that, if he would be who he is today? If he would
have been able to achieve becoming President of the United States?
OBAMA: To be honest, it's a difficult question for me to answer.
Because that's something that he went through. That's what his
experience was, and whether that was a need that he had in order to be
more, or to prove himself, or to achieve more, it's a difficult question
for me to answer. But I would imagine that it's an important part of
being a person and having an identity. So, without that there would
probably have always been some void in his life. And if you don't feel
complete, sometimes you don't achieve as much as you would.
So, you know, he's a very whole person and I think he's very
comfortable with who he is. And you know, he really has a very positive
outlook on life. And I think all of that contributes to it. Because he
definitely knows who he is. And I hope that I can contributed to him
being able to find out who he is in a more complete way.
CURRY: Well, the book is illuminating. I wish we had more time but
we've run out of time. Auma Obama, it's a pleasure to meet you and thank
you so much for joining us here this morning.
OBAMA: Thank you for having me.
CURRY: And the book is called, "And Then Life Happens."
-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.
