And now for the REAL hot-button political issue this week: did comedy legend Mel Brooks try to “pants” the president of the United States? Mel Brooks went to the White House yesterday for the presentation of the National Medals of Arts. For some reason, these are the “2015 National Medal of Arts” and not 2016? And while I was surprised that Mel Brooks – who is 90 years old – has never received the National Medal of Arts before now, keep in mind that he’s literally won everything else. I think the Obama White House was like, “Wait, Mel Brooks has won everything but the National Medal? Well, let’s rectify that situation!” So that’s how Mel Brooks ended up at the White House.

When Pres. Obama gently placed the medal around Brooks’ neck, Brooks did some sort of comedic move and some people interpretted it as “Mel Brooks tried to pants the president.” Decide for yourself:

Pres. Obama awards the 2015 National Medal of Arts to Mel Brooks "for a lifetime of making the world laugh." https://t.co/bGsVe1NLg6

— ABC News (@ABC) September 22, 2016

The first time I watched it, I did think this was an Attempted Pantsing. But I watched it again with Mel’s own explanation, which is that he was making a jokey move about the heaviness of the medal, and now I see it. I don’t think he was going for POTUS’s trousers, although that would have been both hilarious and controversial. I suspect Obama would have let Mel Brooks pants him just for fun.

Photos courtesy of Getty.