WASHINGTON — Barack Obama said he has successfully quit smoking cigarettes despite the pressures of a closely contested and lengthy presidential campaign.
“I’ve been chewing on this Nicorette, which tastes like you’re chewing on ground pepper — but it does help,” the Democratic candidate said in an interview that aired Thursday on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
His wife, Michelle, used his smoking as leverage when the two were discussing whether he should run for president. She would agree only if Obama agreed to give up smoking.
“I had been sneaking three cigarettes, four cigarettes a day for a while, and she said if you’re going to do this you’ve got to stop — precisely because the stress was going to increase, and it’ll just get worse,” Obama said. “So that’s an example of my wife making me a better man once again.”
