Remember when President Obama was on the Daily Show last week? Both he and funny man-host Jon Stewart had their cups of water in front of them but only the President's had a mysterious white lid covering his beverage, prompting people to wonder what it was all about:
The answer lies with the Navy Mess, according to one anonymous Daily Show employee:
I work on the Daily Show and am involved with the placement of the mugs every day. When the Secret Service spoke with me about what we usually do for the show, I asked about the mugs knowing it would be an issue. "Let me introduce you to the Navy Mess," the lead agent said.
So, I met the appropriate person from the Navy Mess. I gave her a brand new mug which she disappeared with. She kept possession of it the whole time and filled it with water herself. She explained to me that when he sees the paper lid (which is embossed with the seal of the President), he knows that it has come from the Navy Mess and is safe.
She offered to remove it before the segment started, but we cleared it with the control room that if it made the President feel safe to have it there, they could live with it.
I thought this was pretty interesting--not surprising, but interesting. The only mildly surprising thing here is how President Obama and his staff didn't feel completely "at home" in the studio of a television program that is overtly on their team. It actually made me relieved that the left-wing nature of the Daily Show didn't prevent the usual precautions when it comes to the President's physical well-being and security. Because anything less than that would be completely naive, no matter how supportive the program was. You just never know at this point!
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