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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Obama: president of the United Steh? | Obama: president of the United Steh? |
| (10 days later) | |
| Four years ago it was Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts who fumbled the presidential oath of office, at Barack Obama's first inauguration. This time it was Obama himself who almost mangled his lines. | Four years ago it was Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts who fumbled the presidential oath of office, at Barack Obama's first inauguration. This time it was Obama himself who almost mangled his lines. |
| Repeating after Roberts, the president tripped up on the word "states" in the line: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States." | Repeating after Roberts, the president tripped up on the word "states" in the line: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States." |
| Obama swallowed the end of the word, with the result that he vowed to lead a country called "the United Steh". | Obama swallowed the end of the word, with the result that he vowed to lead a country called "the United Steh". |
| The blunder raised no legal hazard. The oath was in fact formally administered on Sunday, as the constitution requires it to be done on 20 January. The public recitation on Monday was a re-do in the name of pomp and circumstance. | The blunder raised no legal hazard. The oath was in fact formally administered on Sunday, as the constitution requires it to be done on 20 January. The public recitation on Monday was a re-do in the name of pomp and circumstance. |
| That was not the case in 2009, when Roberts gummed up the works by omitting the word "faithfully." The resulting confusion in the president's recitation was deemed so legally tenuous that Roberts had to re-administer the oath in a private ceremony later. | That was not the case in 2009, when Roberts gummed up the works by omitting the word "faithfully." The resulting confusion in the president's recitation was deemed so legally tenuous that Roberts had to re-administer the oath in a private ceremony later. |
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