Obama Reads 'Mean Tweets', Says He does Not Own Smartphone Nor Tweet or Text

President Barack Obama made his first in-person appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live to discuss events in Ferguson, Mo. and he read some mean tweets from the public.

Kimmel jokingly introduced the president as the "first Kenyan-born Muslim socialist ever elected to run this country."

President Obama called the years of racial targeting in Ferguson "oppressive and objectionable and worthy of protest" but denounced the violence that left the two officers injured.

"There was no excuse for criminal acts," Obama said.

Jimmy & the guy that gets him out of all his parking tickets. #ObamaOnKimmel @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/WgJ5d6XTCG

— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) March 13, 2015

"And whoever fired those shots shouldn't detract from the issue. They're criminals. They need to be arrested. And then, what we need to do is to make sure that like-minded, good-spirited people on both sides - law enforcement who have a terrifically tough job and people who understandably don't want to be stopped and harassed just because of their race - that we're able to work together to try to come up with some good answers."

During the interview, Obama shared that he does not own a smartphone, does not text or tweet.

"I do not physically tweet in general. I don't text. I email. I still have a Blackberry," the president said.

Obama added that he is not allowed to use a smartphone with a recording device for security reasons.

"I can't use phones with recorders in them. So a lot of the new-fangled stuff, for security reasons, I don't get," he told ABC News.

President Obama then went on to read some mean tweets. He laughed as he read, "How do you make Obama's eyes light up? Shine a flashlight in his ears," and added, "That's pretty good"--the chief executive also got around to the subject of Kanye West.

"I have to say, though, those weren't that mean," Obama told the host, after reading some mild insults. "You should see what the Senate says about me."

Obama's appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" fulfilled a commitment the White House made after he had to postpone an appearance last year.