Cheered by Hollywood stars, US President Barack Obama Saturday lampooned likely Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s wealth and mined a shaggy dog story about his foe, striking a rare light note in the bitter White House race.
Mr Obama used an annual star-studded dinner with White House correspondents and Hollywood A-listers, which Presidents use to rip their rivals, to take a few gentle shots at Mr Romney.
He riffed off the hit movie Hunger Games to poke Mr Romney’s hard-bore Republican primary approach, which he said saw “wealthy sponsors” brutally savage each other until only one contestant is left standing. “I’m sure this was a great change of pace for him,” Mr Obama joked. “Everybody is predicting a nasty election. And thankfully, we’ve all agreed that families are off-limits,” he said, and quipped: “Dogs, however, are apparently fair game.”
Mr Romney has been dogged by Democratic supporters who keep bringing up an old road trip when he affixed his family pet aboard the roof of his station wagon. As Mr Obama spoke, a large screen in the hotel ballroom pictured a mock-up of a dog kennel atop Air Force One.