Former President Barack Obama opened up about the death of his family’s dog, Bo, on Monday’s broadcast of The Late Late Show.
Obama told host James Corden how the black-and-white Portuguese water dog, who died earlier this month after a battle with cancer, had become “a bond for the whole family to give us this fun, furry excuse to go for walks and spend time together and chase after each other.”
“There’s a well-known saying in Washington, ‘If you want a friend, get a dog,’” the former president said. “Well, I got one because I needed a friend during the presidency who would be nice to me no matter what. “
Obama later noted that trolls often take over the comments of his social media posts. He said his and former first lady Michelle Obama’s tributes to Bo, who moved into the White House in April 2009, “are the only posts where everybody posted something nice.”
“I can’t tell you how many people said, ‘You know, I think you were the worst president ever but here’s my dog and I really feel sorry for you because I know how close I was with my dog,’” Obama said.
“It actually told you something about how important people’s pets are in their family’s lives,” he added. “As I was reading these comments, it did make me sometimes think, ‘Gosh, if we could be as kind and thoughtful toward each other as we are about our pets, we’d be doing a little bit better.’”