Obama describes ‘sobbing’ when Malia went to Harvard

Former president Barack Obama said he was a wreck when he dropped his daughter Malia off at Harvard University.

The 44th commander-in-chief discussed move-in day when he appeared as the first guest on David Letterman’s new Netflix talk show ‘My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman’.

Obama then described how he speaks with the 19-year-old regularly because he’s ‘pathetic’.

Letterman’s interview with Obama marked the former president’s first television talk show appearance since he left office in January 2017. 

Obama then launched into an anecdote about a desk lamp Malia asked to assemble that took much longer than he expected. ‘It should have taken like five or three minute and [it took] half an hour. and I was just pretty pathetic,’ he joked

Obama said, however, that Malia regularly keeps in contact with him. ‘I get home and [Malia] knows I’m pathetic, so she’s texted me hearts, and, you know, so we are talking on a regular basis’ (Pictured, Obama and Malia make their way to board Air Force One, April 2016)

‘It was like open-heart surgery man,’ Obama told Letterman of moving his oldest daughter into her college dorm in August 2017.

‘And it was was interesting to see how everybody handled things differently. Michelle had a cleaning glove and was scouring the bathroom…Sasha tries to be cool because she didn’t want to admit that she was going to miss her sister so she was helping make the bed and fold clothes . 

‘I was basically useless.’

Obama, 56, then launched into an anecdote about a desk lamp Malia asked to assemble that took much longer than he expected. 

‘It should have taken like five or three minutes. And it only had four parts and I’m sitting there and I’m just toiling way and it’s taken half an hour. and I was just pretty pathetic,’ he joked. 

He said he was able to control his emotions until he was out of sight of his daughter.

‘I held it together in front of Malia. When we drove away, Secret Service is in the front pretending they can’t hear as I’m sniveling in the back seat.’ 

Obama (left, with Letterman) also shared a moment in which Sasha brought him up to dance on stage with Prince before he offered a bit of advice for fathers everywhere: ‘I think the key is what we call staying in the pocket

Letterman’s interview with Obama marked the former president’s first television talk show appearance since he left office in January 2017 (Pictured, Obama tapes an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in May 2015)

Letterman bid his final, emotional farewell on the CBS late-night show on May 20, 2015 in front of the studio audience and a huge 13.76 million viewers (Pictured, left to right: Obama, Letterman and Michelle  kick off a USO comedy show, May 2016)

 However, he says Malia regularly keeps in contact with him.

‘What’s changed I think from when we were kids is technology,’ Obama told Letterman. ‘So I get home and [Malia] knows I’m pathetic, so she’s texted me hearts, and, you know, so we are talking on a regular basis.’

In a clip that was released before the Friday premiere, Obama said he remember daughter Sasha, 16, on stage dancing with music icon Prince during one of his very last performances.

‘This was probably three or four months before he died, and Prince asked Sasha to come up and dance,’ Obama said in the clip released Wednesday.  

He said that then his youngest daughter pulled him up to join in, which surprised him ‘because she always mocks my dancing.’

‘I have dad moves,’ Obama clarified to a long-bearded Letterman.

Obama then offered a bit of advice for fathers everywhere: ‘I think the key is what we call staying in the pocket.

‘You gotta stay in the pocket, because I think everybody here knows dads who get out of the pocket. And they’re trying stuff that they can’t really pull off.’ 

Letterman has mostly stayed out of the public eye since leaving television more than two-and-a-half years ago. His new show (pictured) resembles a scaled down version of his old program but with a more intimate dynamic.

Upcoming guests include actor George Clooney, rapper Jay-Z and Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai (pictured)

Letterman bid his final, emotional farewell on the CBS late-night show on May 20, 2015 in front of the studio audience and a huge 13.76 million viewers, paying tribute to his wife, Regina, and son, Harry, 11.

The program, which started at 11:35pm, lasted more than an hour as CBS let it run long. The last time Letterman had so many viewers was in 1994, when his show aired after that year’s Winter Olympics.

Letterman has mostly stayed out of the public eye since leaving television more than two-and-a-half years ago.

His new show resembles a scaled down version of his old program but with a more intimate dynamic.

Next month, actor George Clooney will join Letterman onstage. Other guests in the six-episode special include rapper Jay-Z, radio shock jock Howard Stern, comedian Tina Fey and Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, the streaming service said.