Elizabeth Williamson reports from New Orleans on President Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama fielded some tough questions from a town hall crowd in New Orleans today, but none as harsh as the final query of the day.


Tyren Scott, 9 years old, of Paulina, La., asks President Barack Obama a question during a town hall meeting at the University of New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

“Why does everyone hate you?” asked nine-year-old Tyren Scott.

Tyren, a fourth-grader at Paulina Elementary School in Paulina, La., then said that he loves Obama. “That’s what I’m talking about!” the president said, laughing. Then he ventured a good-natured explanation for why others might not share Tyren’s goodwill.

“If you’re watching TV lately it seems like everybody’s just getting mad all the time,” he told the boy.

“People just, I think they’re worried about their own lives,” including losing their jobs and homes due to the recession, he said. “They’re feeling frustrated, and when you’re the president of the United States you’ve gotta deal with all that…that’s right,” he said to applause and laughter.

“You’re gonna get some of the blame and that’s part of the job.”