Obama discourages selfies with lawmakers

Hosting the White House congressional picnic on Wednesday, President Obama said he was looking forward to saying hello and shaking hands — but no selfies, please.

"I want to shake as many hands as I can," Obama said. "I will tell you in advance that selfies are a little tough, just because if I'm doing 2,000 selfies then we won't be done until 10 in the evening."

That didn't necessarily apply to children, he added.

"I will make exceptions for little people — but you have to actually be little," Obama said. "And I mean young —I don't mean short."

Selfies have been issues for the Obama administration.

Obama took some heat for a selfie with other world leaders during a memorial service for Nelson Mandela in late 2013. Earlier this year, the White House objected when a cellphone company promoted itself through a selfie that baseball star David Ortiz took with Obama.

During his remarks at the congressional picnic, Obama thanked lawmakers for backing his new counterterrorism plan against the Islamic State, and asked for cooperation on other issues.

"Hopefully, a picnic like this just reminds us of the fact that there are a lot of people all across the country counting on us to be able to work together," Obama said. "That doesn't mean we don't have strong passions and strong arguments, but it also means that every once in a while we've got to set those aside, embrace compromise, and try to get some stuff done."