Remarks by the President at Halloween Event

East Room

4:36 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Happy Halloween, everybody! (Applause.) Trick or treat. Well, it is great to see all of you guys. Your costumes are outstanding. Young man, no selfies in the middle of me talking. (Laughter.) And, Darth Vader, back up a little bit. I’m getting spooked. (Laughter.)

So we just want to say to all the families, all the kids, it is great to see you guys and we hope you have a great time today. You guys all look scary, or cool, or whatever you’re trying to be. (Laughter.) Awesome. Many of you look awesome. And we hope you have a great time. We hope, parents, that on this day at least, you don’t have to pay attention to Michelle and healthy eating. (Laughter.)

MRS. OBAMA: Candy for everybody. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: And in fact, the more candy, the later you eat the candy, the better. (Laughter.) Because I think that you being up all night with a sugar rush is exactly what your parents are looking for. (Laughter.)

All right. So we hope you guys have a great time. And to the staff who are here, thank you, guys. I’m glad you guys took a little break from all the outstanding work. (Applause.)

And now, my understanding is, is that we’ve been working on a little dance. We don’t know how it’s going to go, but we think we should all just try it anyway. What do you think?

AUDIENCE: Yes!

THE PRESIDENT: Yes — don’t you think? All right. So who’s got the music? Let’s cue it up. Everybody get ready. (Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is played.)

END
4:37 P.M. EDT