Obama to Vegas spender at town hall: ‘We like to see that’

After he said earlier this month that people should not “blow a bunch of cash in Vegas,” President Barack Obama on Friday commended a man at his Nevada town hall who “spen[t] money in Vegas.”

The president’s remark at a New Hampshire town hall on Feb. 2 got him into hot water with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, especially because it was the second time he made such comments.

{mosads}But Obama took a different tack on Friday.

During a question-and-answer session at a Henderson, Nev., town hall, he asked a man in the audience, “Are you spending some money here in Vegas?”

The man responded “Yes, sir.”

“All right, we like to see that,” Obama responded.

Obama wrote a letter to Reid explaining his comment in New Hampshire after Reid asked the president to “lay off Las Vegas.” The president said he did not mean to denigrate the city known for its gambling casinos.

Goodman demanded that Obama apologize, but the president has not addressed that request. As a result, Goodman denied an invitation to meet with the president, who spoke at a private fundraiser for Reid in Vegas on Thursday.

Obama originally said, “When times are tough, you tighten your belts … You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You
don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for
college.”

The president also targeted Las Vegas last February at a town
hall in Elkhart, Ind., when he was asked about corporate responsibility.

“You can’t get corporate jets. You can’t go take that trip
to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime,” he
said.

Vegas jokes are a sensitive subject for Nevada leaders because the city’s tourism and casino industry is an integral part of the state’s economy. Obama referred to the issue several times, saying that as the economy improves, so will tourism.

“They come to Vegas, [the] tourism industry starts taking off,” Obama said, garnering a round of applause.