Gaffe Watch: Obama Confuses 'Sanford and Son' with 'The Jeffersons'

October 29th, 2008 2:54 PM

I may have found the real reason Sen. Barack Obama was hesitant to appear on "The O'Reilly Factor." Fear of flunking the "Great American Culture Quiz."

From an October 29 blog post by Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet:

RALEIGH, N.C.--Barack Obama seemed to mix up black television sitcoms "Sanford and Son" and "The Jeffersons" in a speech Wednesday, where he was making the point that if Social Security had ever been privatized--as Republicans tried to do a few years ago, folks invested in the stock market would have been whacked with giant losses because of the economic meltdown.

"Can you imagine if you had your Social Security invested in the stock market these last two weeks, these last two months.

You wouldn't need Social Security. You'd be having a, ya know like Sanford and Sons, 'I'm coming Weezy."

One of George [sic*] Sanford's signature lines was 'I'm coming Elizabeth."

Weezy was the nickname for Louise Jefferson.

Obama departed from his prepared remarks in making the Sanford reference

*Actually the lead male characters in "Sanford and Son" and "The Jeffersons" were Fred Sanford (played by Redd Foxx) and George Jefferson (played by Sherman Hemsley), respectively.