Barack Obama opens up about the loss of their dog Bo: ‘I needed a friend during the presidency’

Former president Barack Obama appeared on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” Monday, where he opened up about his first White House dog, Bo. On May 8th his family announced on social media that Bo had passed away, and he found public response surprising.

“On our social media accounts, as you might imagine, sometimes the comment sections are less than friendly,” Obama told James Corden. “You might get some trolling, occasionally, like, ‘Obama you're a bum. And you are the worst president ever’...and so forth and so on. These were the only posts where everybody posted something nice.”

Earlier in the interview Obama credited Bo with helping to bring his family closer together, and it turns out the Porteguese water dog may have helped bring him and his trolls closer together.

“I can't tell you how many people said, ‘You know, I think you were the worst president ever but here's [a picture of] my dog and I really feel sorry for you because I know how close I was with my dog.’” Obama recalled.

While Obama will miss his furry four-legged friend, he couldn’t help but appreciate what Bo’s death taught him. He said, “It did make me sometimes think gosh, if we could be as kind and thoughtful towards each other as we are about our pets, we would be doing a little bit better.”

Video Transcript

BARACK OBAMA: There's a well-known saying in Washington-- if you want a friend, get a dog. Well, I got one, because I needed a friend during the presidency who would be nice to me no matter what.

KYLIE MAR: Former President Barack Obama appeared on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" Monday, where he opened up about his first White House dog, Bo. On May 8, his family announced on social media that Bo had died. And he found the public response surprising.

BARACK OBAMA: On our social media accounts, as you might imagine, sometimes the comment sections are less than friendly, right, that you might get some trolling. Those are the only posts where everybody posted something nice.

KYLIE MAR: Obama credited Bo with helping to bring his family closer together. And it turns out the Portuguese Water Dog also helped bring him and his trolls closer together.

BARACK OBAMA: I can't tell you how many people said I think you were the worst president ever, but here's my dog and I really feel sorry for you because I know how close I was with my dog.

KYLIE MAR: While Obama will miss his furry four-legged friend, he couldn't help but appreciate what Bo's death taught him.

BARACK OBAMA: It did make me sometimes think, gosh, if we could be as kind and thoughtful towards each other as we are about our pets, we'd be doing a little bit better.