President Obama throws Baltimore QB into speech, calling actor ‘Flacco’ instead of ‘Franco’

BALTIMORE – Call it a Presidential fumble: Barack Obama mistakenly used the last name of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco when referring to actor James Franco in a speech Friday.

Lashing out at Sony Pictures for its decision to halt the release of the movie “The Interview,” Obama said, “It says something interesting about North Korea that they decided to have the state come out with an all-out attack because of a satirical movie starring Seth Rogen and James Flacco.”

The President went on to say, “I love Seth and James.”

The movie stars Franco, but Flacco had some fun with the miscue on Twitter. Flacco wrote, “Welcome to the family, brother” to Franco.

It was re-tweeted 1.4 million times by late afternoon Friday.

The Ravens play Sunday in Houston. Flacco’s acting chops have thus far been tested only in commercials for McDonald’s and Baltimore-area firms.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

News from © The Associated Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.