Obama on Jay-Z, Beyonce, Cuba: "White House Not Involved, We've Got Better Things to Do"

The Prez and Hova "got a little bond there." But Obama insists he didn't help his pals, Jay-Z and Beyonce (AKA The Carters), secure clearance from the Treasury Department for their fifth anniversary vacay to Cuba. "This is not something the White House was involved with," POTUS tells the Today...

By S. Pajot

April 17, 2013

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The Prez and Hova "got a little bond there."

But Obama insists he didn't help his pals, Jay-Z and Beyonce (AKA The Carters), secure clearance from the Treasury Department for their fifth anniversary vacay to Cuba.

"This is not something the White House was involved with," POTUS tells the Today Show's Savannah Guthrie, brushing a lil' dirt off his shoulder.

"We've got better things to do."

-Jay-Z's "Open Letter" to Cuba Haters: "Obama Said 'Chill, You Gon Get Me Impeached'"

-Pitbull Drops Rap Response to Jay-Z, Beyonce's Cuba Visit, Offers to Pay for Trip

As soon as it became public, the Carters' three-day trip to the island stirred up Republican politicos like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Marco Rubio, who angrily accused Jay and Bey of helping to "fund the machinery of oppression" and having "no interest in the Cuban people's freedom."

Eventually, the supercouple's "educational exchange trip" was offcially confirmed to have been approved under a licensed program that encourages "meaningful contacts" with the Cuban people. But this information still wasn't enough for Jay and Bey's Cuba haters. They wanted the Prez to 'splain.

So today on Today, while also discussing topics like the Boston Marathon bombing, abortion issues, gun control, and Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential run, Obama addressed Cubagate and Jay-Z's "Open Letter" rap.

"I wasn't familiar that they were taking the trip," POTUS smilingly shrugs. "My understanding is they went through a group that organizes these educational trips down to Cuba."

Oh, and again ... "We've got better things to do."

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