Former president Barack Obama casually showed up at Chicago‘s Daley Centre for jury duty on Wednesday morning, but – shockingly – was dismissed. Because ultimately if you’re standing trial you really don’t want the former leader of the free world adjudicating your literal freedom, because it’s basically weird as fuck.
Seriously, imagine walking into your trial only to see Obama grinning at you from the jury stands. Definitely a “Could my day get any worse?” situation.
President Obama reporting for jury duty in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/uwj6i2EvJZ
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 8, 2017
It was earlier announced that Obama was called up for jury duty in his home city of Chicago, and that he intended to show up. He’s not the first president to be called up, either – George W. Bush answered the jury call in Dallas in 2005, and Bill Clinton reported for duty in New York City back in 2003. Neither of them were selected either.
As you can see from the photos above, it was a bit of mayhem when Obama showed up. He was also reportedly somewhat popular in the jury room itself, shaking hands with would-be jurors and signing copies of his book. Gotta say: last time I showed up for jury duty at the Downing Centre in Sydney literally nobody wanted to shake my hand, and none of them had copies of my book.
Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans told reporters just before midday that Obama was not tapped for the jury, shockingly. Now the defendant will have to be tried by a jury that doesn’t include a former president! What a buzzkill!
