Kris Jenner fires back on Obama's remarks about Kardashian, West

By Nardine Saad

Aug. 11, 2013 7 AM PT

Kris Jenner had some strong words for President Obama after he took aim at her daughter Kim Kardashian and rapper-boyfriend Kanye West.

The president, who has previous decried West as a “jackass” when the rapper famously upstaged Taylor Swift, was interviewed by David Blum for Kindle Singles.

In the interview, Obama spoke about the American Dream, which he opined used to include a good home, job, education and the possibility of higher education. However, he said that these days the likes of Kardashian and West had distorted the American Dream in a way that he believes negatively affects the younger generation.

“I do think what’s shifted is a notion that the wealthier you are, the more conspicuous consumption you engage in. The more successful you are, the more society should stay out of your way as you pursue the bigger house or the fancier jet or the bigger yacht,” Obama said.

PHOTOS: Meet the Kardashians

“Were there things that all of us might have liked to have? Sure. But partly, I think, there also has been a shift in culture. We weren’t exposed to things we didn’t have in the same way kids these days are. There was not that window into the lifestyles of the rich and famous,” the president said. “Kids weren’t monitoring every day what Kim Kardashian was wearing, or where Kanye West was going on vacation, and thinking that somehow that was the mark of success.”

Jenner, for one, took what he said to heart.

On the Friday episode of her talk show “Kris,” the Kardashian momager, 57, addressed Obama’s quotes regarding her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend’s affluence with co-host and E! personality Terrence Jenkins.

HOTOS: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West

That’s when Jenner put on her Oprah Winfrey hat.

“‘They’re influencing a generation of youngsters to be obsessed with wealth and celebrity,’” mama bear said, interpreting Obama’s statements.

Kardashian, 32, and West, 36, famously spent $11 million on a 10,000-square-foot home in Bel-Air in January while Kardashian was pregnant. But Kardashian and her daughter North, who was born June 15, is currently residing at her mother’s sprawling Hidden Hills home while she and West tear down and custom rebuild their mansion. They’re reportedly gutting it and taking the Italian-style villa to up to 14,000 square feet.

“It’s really great that people aspire to get a great job... but I wasn’t aware that you could only set the bar so high and that we could only dream so big,” Jenner said after reading the president’s quotes. “I was taught: Dream big, work hard and you could have whatever you wanted.”

The American Dream, ladies and gentleman, as told by the Kardashians.

“I bet the president has some friends with 10,000-square-foot houses and you probably wouldn’t mind going over there, Mr. President while you were asking them to have a party for you when you were campaigning for dollars to run for president,” Jenner said, referring to high-netting, star-studded fundraising parties thrown for him by the likes of A-listers George Clooney and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Jenner said that she thought that it was “kind of remarkable in and of itself” that the president even mentioned her overexposed kin in the first place, yet she still continued.

“I find it so odd that he’s picking on Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Well, Kanye West, first of all, doesn’t go on vacation. Ever,” Jenner said. “And Kim Kardashian is the hardest-working young lady in the world. She never sleeps, she never stops, she never slows down and works so hard for what she’s got.”

PHOTOS: Kim Kardashian’s relationships and flings

Indeed, Kardashian, the daughter of late O.J. Simpson defense lawyer Robert Kardashian, rose to fame following the bombshell appearance of a homemade sex tape made with R&B singer Ray J. She and her family have worked to move away from that initial notoriety by building a media empire through fashion, cosmetics and their juggernaut reality TV series “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and its many spinoffs. (Jenner also made the point that they were doing their part to keep the unemployment rate low, saying “KUWTK” alone employs “hundreds and hundreds of people.”)

The enormous family has remained a mainstay in the public eye (and on this particular blog) because of their glitzy lifestyle and accessibility on television and social media, constantly addressing fans and sharing big moments in their private lives. Cases in point, eldest sister Kourtney Kardashian televised part of the birth of her first child and Khloe Kardashian’s whirlwind wedding to ball player Lamar Odom and Kim Kardashian’s nuptials to ball player Kris Humphries were both documented and broadcast as E! special events.

The media maelstrom following Kim Kardashian’s 72-day marriage and extended divorce proceedings from Humphries somewhat tarnished the brand, but Kim’s candid take on the topic and perpetual projects swiftly brushed family scandals under a very luxurious rug. Kardashian’s subsequent romance with the vainglorious “I am a God” rapper was seen as a supernova in the pop culture zeitgeist.

Surely, young America (and E!’s target demographic) paid attention then as it continues to pay attention now. Which brings us back to Jenner talking about Obama.

“I started thinking about her 10,000-square-foot house,” Jenner said. “I thought, wow, her job affords her to live in a 10,000-square-foot house. And I think, if I’m not mistaken, that Mr. President’s job affords him to live in a 55,000-square-foot house. So basically my house would fit in his entry.”

“I just don’t think it’s such a bad thing to want to be our best and do our best and have nice things.”

Perhaps.

But the mainstream cachet this family yields should be questioned now and again. If Kardashian sticking out her tongue in a three-second video could make a flurry of headlines this past week, perhaps we’ve been grossly under-estimating the influence of this American dynasty.

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