'I think St Nick gave up smoking': Michelle Obama and Ryan Seacrest improvise a politically correct version of Twas the Night Before Christmas for sickly children

  • The pair were at Children's National Health System hospital in Washington DC
  • They read out the classic 1823 poem to kids, but with some modern 'updates'
  • Mrs Obama said that Santa gave up pipe-smoking 'a long time back'
  • Seacrest said the description of 'chubby and plump' Santa was 'a compliment'
  • The pair then answered questions and appeared on hospital radio 
  • The First Ladies have visited the hospital each year since the 1940s 

By James Wilkinson For Dailymail.com

Published: 12:18 EST, 13 December 2016 | Updated: 17:25 EST, 13 December 2016

Michelle Obama and Ryan Seacrest found their modern sensibilities challenged by a classic Christmas poem Monday, when they read out A Visit from St Nicholas - better known as 'Twas The Night Before Christmas - to a group of kids.

The pair recited the classic 1823 poem at Children's National Health System, a Washington, DC hospital that the First Ladies have visited since the 1940s, this time accompanied by Santa himself.

But the poem's politically incorrect description of Saint Nick as a chubby pipe-smoker led to some hasty corrections by the pair, CNS News reported.

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PC world: Ryan Seacrest and Michelle Obama read kids the 1823 poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas at a DC hospital Monday - but altered passages to make it more politically correct

Mrs Obama kicked off the tale by telling the amassed children: 'Well, we have a story to tell you ' a story about Christmas night and this guy named -'

'Old St. Nick,' Seacrest said, finishing her sentence.

Holy smokes: Mrs Obama said that Santa gave up smoking a long time ago despite the poem's description - and Seacrest said that it was a 'compliment' to call Santa 'chubby'

The pair made it just fine through the first 40 lines of the poem, but ran into rough ground when St Nick's dirty habit reared its head.

'His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow,' Seacrest said, then handed over to Mrs Obama.

'The stump of a pipe-' she began, before stopping to clarify: 'I think St. Nick gave up smoking.

'This was a long time back,' she laughed. 

'This was written way back in the day,' Seacrest agreed.

Mrs Obama started again: 'The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath.'

Then it was Seacrest's turn to 'improve' the old poem, as he described St Nick's 'little round belly, That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.'

'I mean this as a compliment,' he said, before continuing: 'He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.'

The poem finished without any more problems, and then it was the children's turn to ask the pair questions. 

One asked what their favorite holiday song was; Seacrest chose 'Silent Night', especially when sung in a candlelight service.

Mrs Obama went for something a little more modern - 1970 single 'This Christmas' by black singer-songwriter Donny Hathaway.

And when asked about her favorite winter sport, Mrs Obama chose skiing, saying that it's 'great exercise. And it's fun. And it's a little scary, too.

She also let the kids pet Bo and Sunny, the family dogs who accompanied her to the hospital.

'They're probably the most popular living creatures in the White House,' she said.

She then took place in a round-table interview hosted by Seacrest and patients from the hospital's LGBTQ clinic that was broadcast to patients throughout the hospital.

Though this will be her last visit as First Lady, Dr Kurt Newman, president and CEO of Children's National, said he looked forward to having Mrs Obama back at the hospital. 

He noted she was an executive at a Chicago hospital before she became first lady, joking: 'I can always put her to work.'

Puppy power: Mrs Obama also brought the family's dogs, Bo and Sunny, to meet the children, joking that they're 'probably the most popular living creatures in the White House'

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