Jon Stewart interviews candid Barack Obama for the seventh and final time on The Daily Show

Barack Obama shifted from baseball to American football to compare the limitations of meeting his goals as president during an appearance on The Daily Show on Tuesday. "You're always going to fall short, because if you're hitting your marks, that means you didn't set them high enough," Obama said. "We don't score a touchdown every time, but we move the ball forward."

Last year, the president, a sports fan, used the national pastime to describe his approach to global issues as a pursuit of incremental progress. “You hit singles, you hit doubles; every once in a while we may be able to hit a home run,” Obama said at last year’s news conference, in what’s since been dubbed the “Obama doctrine”.

As Jon Stewart is preparing for his final episode on August 6, he got one final opportunity to quiz the president and poke a little fun at his expense. For Obama, too, it’s the end of an era: he has appeared on the hit Comedy Central show seven times, including three as president.

But in the interview, which was broadcast on Tuesday night, Stewart put the spotlight on Obama’s tenure and the long list of problems that remain: unfinished business in the Middle East, for example, or shortcomings at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“You really do only have a year left,” quipped Stewart, after a particularly candid answer from the president.

As he enters the home stretch, Obama took a victory lap on Stewart’s show, ticking off a list of achievements on health care, foreign policy and more. “The VA works better than when I came into office. Government works better than when I came into office. The economy is better than when I came into office,” Obama boasted.

It was a reflective Obama, more than a comedic one, who showed up at The Daily Show studios in New York City earlier in the day. He recalled the sky-high expectations that awaited him when he was elected after a campaign in which his face was etched across the country on posters bearing the word "Hope".

“You made the posters,” Stewart interjected. “I like the posters,” Obama quipped.

On Iran, too, Obama portrayed the controversial deal as the best compromise that government could achieve. In a jab at the George W Bush administration, he joked that his critics think if only former vice president Dick Cheney had been on the United States negotiating team, “then everything would be fine”.

But while Obama was focused on the three-quarters of the loaf he was able to get, he acknowledged it was the job of Stewart and the media to measure the part of the loaf he couldn’t.

“You’re going to really go with this whole sandwich analogy?” asked an amused Stewart.

As his final appearance came to a close, Obama offered a brief observation about Donald Trump, who is drawing Republican Party outrage with a string of controversial comments and insults about his 2016 competitors.

“I’m sure the Republicans are enjoying Mr Trump’s current dominance as the front-runner,” Obama said wryly.

Added Stewart: “Anything that makes them look less crazy.”

artslife@thenational.ae