And the Emmy goes to… President Obama?
The president’s satirical interview with comedian Zach Galifianakis on his Web series “Between Two Ferns,” widely credited with boosting enrollment in his signature healthcare law, has been nominated for an Emmy Award.
The Funny or Die video clip was nominated Thursday in the Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program category, facing off against other contenders including the Super Bowl halftime show and Cartoon Network’s “Childrens Hospital” television series.
The other two nominees in the category also have ties to the president: “The Soup,” hosted by Joel McHale, who served as this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner emcee, and “Parks and Recreation,” an NBC series that has featured guest appearances by Vice President Biden and first lady Michelle Obama.
White House aides celebrated the nomination on social media.
In the video, Obama and Galifianakis traded barbs while promoting the HealthCare.gov website.
“Why would you get the guy who created the Zune to make your website?” Galifianakis asked.
“HealthCare.gov works great now, and millions of Americans have already gotten health insurance plans and what we want is people to know you can get affordable healthcare,” Obama responded. “And most Americans, right now, they’re not covered, and the truth is they can get coverage all for what it costs you to pay your cellphone bill.”
“Is this what they mean by drones?” the comedian struck back.
White House officials said that the clip increased traffic to the website by almost 40 percent after its debut, and has been viewed online over 22 million times.