‘Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda Freestyles In The Rose Garden With President Barack Obama

Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Hamilton creator and star, freestyled in the Rose Garden at the White House with the assistance of President Barack Obama.

Lin-Manuel Miranda & Obama

During the Hamilton cast’s visit to the White House Monday, Miranda showed off his freestyle rapping skills. Assisting Miranda was Obama, who held up cue cards with words that referenced various aspects of politics and the White House. Among the words emblazoned on the cue cards were “Constitution,” “Obamacare,” “Federalist” and “Oval Office.”

At the end of the performance, Miranda dropped the mic – while the president pretended to drop an imaginary one. “You think that’s going viral?” Obama quipped. “That’s going viral.”

Earlier in the day, Obama introduced Miranda and other members of the Hamilton musical’s cast to the schoolchildren who had assembled for their performance. He told them that he hoped that the musical’s interpretation of America’s founding would show them that the past was a foundation for the future, which is always being created.

“That’s what makes America so great. You finish the story. We’re not yet finished. This is a constant work in progress, America. We’re boisterous and we’re diverse,” Obama said, adding with a reference to a line in the show, “‘I’m just like my country — young, scrappy and hungry.’ We’re full of energy and perpetually young in spirit. We are the project that never ends.”

The Hamilton cast performed the musical’s opening number “Alexander Hamilton” as well as “My Shot.”