President Obama makes sci-fi mistake with ‘Jedi Mind Meld’ remark

President Obama had a press conference today to discuss the country’s very real issues with the upcoming sequester, but his sci-fi faux pas is what’s getting the most attention on the Internet.

ABC News reports that a reporter asked the president why he didn’t just lock up Congressional leaders in a room and force them to reach a deal. Since we live in a democracy, President Obama told the reporter that he is not a “dictator” who can do that.

“I am not a dictator, I’m the president,” Obama replied. “So ultimately, if Mitch McConnell or John Boehner say, we need to go to catch a plane, I can’t have Secret Service block the doorway, right?”

After chatter broke out among the reporters, President Obama continued, “No, no, I understand. And — and I — and I — I know that this has been some of the conventional wisdom that’s been floating around Washington that somehow, even though most people agree that I’m being reasonable, that most people agree I’m presenting a fair deal, the fact that they don’t take it means that I should somehow, you know, do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what’s right.”

Woah...hold on there a second Mr. President. We thought you were a full-fledged Star Trek fan. After all, you invited actress Nichelle Nichols to the White House. You should know that Vulcan’s have their Mind Meld. The Star Wars franchise’s Jedi Knights have their “mind tricks.”

Sure, the president’s main point might have been that he just can’t force elected officials to do what he wants, but the sci-fi mistake was magnified on Twitter.

One of the most popular tweets was by comedian Rob Delaney, who wrote:

Obama just said "Jedi mindmeld." What's next, Klingon lightsabers? #Shame #Impeach

— rob delaney (@robdelaney) March 1, 2013

Lost and Prometheus writer Damon Lindelof added:

Obama just said "Jedi Mindmeld."That sound you heard was Picard face-palming.

— Damon Lindelof (@DamonLindelof) March 1, 2013

The Atlantic even suggested that Obama completely lost his nerd cred.

Or maybe it’s just that Obama has access to a secret plot that J.J. Abrams is cooking up to link the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises. After all, Abrams is directing the next Star Wars film and already revived Star Trek with his reboot.

UPDATED: The White House staff is having too much fun with this:

We must bring balance to the Force. #Sequester #JediMindMeld twitter.com/whitehouse/sta…

— The White House (@whitehouse) March 1, 2013