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Leonard Nimoy

Obama on death of Leonard Nimoy: 'I loved Spock'

Gregory Korte
USA TODAY
President Obama makes remarks before holding a meeting with the president of Liberia Friday.

President Obama is an admitted Star Trek fan, and a fan of one character in particular: Mr. Spock, the pointy-eared Vulcan played by Leonard Nimoy.

"Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy," Obama said in a statement released by the White House Friday after Nimoy's death. "Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek's optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity's future.

"I loved Spock," Obama said.

Obama said he met Nimoy in person in 2007. "It was only logical to greet him with the Vulcan salute, the universal sign for 'Live long and prosper.' And after 83 years on this planet – and on his visits to many others – it's clear Leonard Nimoy did just that. Michelle and I join his family, friends, and countless fans who miss him so dearly today."

If Obama is a Star Trek fan, he's not an obsessive one. He caused a flap in 2013 when he incorrectly mixed his sci-fi references by suggesting a "Jedi mind meld" with Republicans over budget cuts. (A Vulcan mind meld was one of Spock's special abilities, but Jedis are from Star Wars, not Star Trek.)

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It''s been observed Obama bears a resemblance to Nimoy in his stature and mannerisms, which Obama himself acknowledged after watching the the latest movie in the Star Trek franchise in 2009.

"Everybody was saying I was Spock, so I figured I should check it out," he said.

Follow @gregorykorte on Twitter.

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