--- title: President Obama Imitates His Daughters on Their Phones description: In the ultimate dad move, President Obama took time during a speech to impersonate his daughters canonical: https://time.com/4533841/president-obama-imitates-sasha-malia-phones/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-17T21:32:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:51:00.233Z og:title: Watch President Obama Imitate His Daughters on Their Phones og:description: The ultimate dad move og:url: https://time.com/4533841/president-obama-imitates-sasha-malia-phones/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6972a3370f77ef62/6988aa4b97cdff46a76ae324/barack-obama-imitates-daughtes-on-phone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: President Obama Speaks At Benjamin Banneker Academic High School In Washington, D.C. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch President Obama Imitate His Daughters on Their Phones twitter:description: The ultimate dad move twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6972a3370f77ef62/6988aa4b97cdff46a76ae324/barack-obama-imitates-daughtes-on-phone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Imitating His Daughters on Their Phones Confirms That He's the Ultimate Dad > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=eebc56f2-20db-4cbc-b908-2bb6558ea1c5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Obama Imitating His Daughters on Their Phones Confirms That He’s the Ultimate Dad [Watch (HLS stream): President Obama Imitating His Daughters on Their Phones Confirms That He’s the Ultimate Dad](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aBN3qVD6.m3u8) (1:11)  _Published 2016-10-17. In the ultimate dad move, President Obama took time during a speech at Washington, D.C.-based Benjamin Banneker Academic High School to give his best impersonation of his daughters on their cell phones._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Oct 17, 2016 9:32 PM UTC In the ultimate dad move, President Obama took time during a speech at Washington, D.C.-based Benjamin Banneker Academic High School to give his best impersonation of his daughters on their cell phones.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Oct 17, 2016 9:32 PM UTC In the ultimate dad move, [President Obama](http://time.com/4527343/president-obama-donald-trump-campaign-event/) took time during a speech at Washington, D.C.-based Benjamin Banneker Academic High School to give his best impersonation of his daughters on their cell phones. POTUS, who has long been established as the Dad-in-chief, thanks to [his endearingly bad dad jokes](http://time.com/4521755/president-obama-crying-baby-bad-jokes/) and [affinity for high-rise denim](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/03/obama-dad-jeans-through-the-years.html), demonstrated how charmingly paternal he could be when he channeled daughters Sasha and Malia texting on their phones. His impression of his daughters on their phones was not only hilarious, but showed a true commitment to accuracy, as demonstrated by his excellent form while pretending to take a selfie. See Obama’s very excellent dad antics for yourself in the clip above. ## Transcript [00:00] I know you may have been waiting here awhile. [00:01] [ CROSSTALK ] Good thing you all had your [00:05] phones with you. [ APPLAUSE ] [00:13] As the father of two teenage daughters I know the [00:16] whole time you were just like and then he said. [00:19] [ LAUGH ] Girl I couldn't believe it. [ LAUGH ] By [00:30] now you've settled in the new year, right? Adjusted to [00:33] classes. You're preparing for spirit wait. [ APPLAUSE ] [00:40] Learning how to ballroom dance. [ LAUGH ] I [00:41] remember having [00:46] to do that. Getting the nerve to text that cute girl [00:50] or boy in your English class. [ LAUGH ] I don't [00:54] remember that. We did not have texts. We had to send [00:58] little notes. And [01:02] then we used to actually have to go up to somebody if [01:04] we liked them and talk to them. [ LAUGH ] So that [01:09] may happen to you someday. 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