Turns Out, Obama Met His Uncle After All

Whoops. The White House had to make a strange about-face today and acknowledge that President Obama has, in fact, met his Uncle Omar. Not only that, but the younger Obama actually lived with his uncle for a few weeks in Cambridge in the 1980s, reports the Boston Globe. The tidbit surfaced this week during Onyango Obama's deportation hearing in Boston. Onyango—Omar is his nickname—testified that his nephew stayed with him for a brief spell when Barack arrived in town to attend Harvard Law School.

“It’s a good thing to let your nephew stay with you,” he said afterward, explaining that "your brother’s kids are your kids as well.” This wouldn't have caused headlines if not for the fact that a White House spokesman said in 2011—after Omar's arrest for drunken driving—that the two had never met. Jay Carney explained the mistake today by saying no staffers had actually asked the president in person, reports the LA Times. This time, they did. “The president has not seen Omar Obama in 20 years and has not spoken with him in a decade," he added. But given that Omar was allowed to remain in the country, maybe that will change? (More President Obama stories.)