Today’s second inauguration went off nearly without a hitch for President Obama , save the part where he stumbles on the word “states” during a bit of the actual oath-taking part.
President Obama stumbled a bit, famously, during his first swearing-in as leader of the free world, and who wouldn’t be a bit nervous at such a big moment? While the President officially takes the Oath of Office on the Sunday prior to the official inauguration to-do, presidents tend to repeat the oath publicly on the following day, Monday, to the fanfare and celebration to which we are accustomed.
Obama stumbles on the oath in the following clip, when he is taking the oath in the big moment. The StarTribune explains:
“In front of hundreds of thousands gathered to watch, Obama stammered briefly over ‘states’ as he repeated back the words ‘the office of president of the United States.’… Obama had already been officially sworn in for a second term on Sunday, in accordance with the Constitution, which requires presidential terms to begin on Jan. 20.”
Obama’s stumbling over the words was not his first run-in with an Oath of Office blunder, and back in 2009 when he was sworn in the first time, Justice John Roberts made a mistake in the oath. The following day, the President and the Justice re-confirmed the oath in order to ensure no constitutional issues would arise from the slipup.
In the clip below, you can watch as President Obama stumbles on his oath in the second go-round, before he officially takes office for the second time.