Is President Obama Smoking Again? White House Says No!

President Barack Obama appeared in a picture with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the recent G7 summit in Germany that has sparked concern that he has returned to his smoking habit. The White House has refuted the suggestion that the picture shows Obama holding cigarettes.

Obama Smoking Again?

In the picture, Obama and Renzi are shown in conversation on a balcony. Obama appears to be holding something in his right hand that he seems to be picking at with his left hand. Many people on Instagram – and then in the news media– determined that Obama was picking a cigarette out of a pack.

“There’s a lot of question about what this white thing is in his hand. Can you tell us — is the president, does he have a pack of cigarettes in his hand?” reporter April Ryan asked White House press secretary Josh Earnest Wednesday.

“He does not,” Earnest responded, hoping that was the end of the discussion – but Ryan persisted. She asked the press secretary that if not cigarettes, then what was the president holding. Ryan also questioned whether or not Obama specifically confirmed to Earnest that he was not holding cigarettes. The reporter insisted that it was a matter of importance, claiming that the reports about it were “everywhere.”

Earnest ended the back-and-forth, stating, “I told you it’s not cigarettes. Let’s move on.”

As has been known since President Obama made his first play for the presidency back in 2008, he has been a smoker. However, a couple of years ago, Obama claimed that he had quit the habit for good due to pressure from his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama.

“I haven’t had a cigarette probably in six years,” he was overhead saying at the United Nations. “That’s ’cause I’m scared of my wife.”

Since quitting smoking, Obama has admitted to falling off the wagon a few times and bumming a cigarette here and there. In order to help him stay away from cigarettes, he’s been known to chew Nicorette gum.