Rock: Obama is 'cool' ... for a politician

Comedian Chris Rock is a fan of President Obama, and even considers him "kind of cool" -- for a politician.

"I always say, cooler than most politicians, not as cool as actual cool people," Rock told New York magazine in an interview, further elaborating: "He's not cool like Jay Z's cool. He's not Eddie Murphy. But in a world of politicians ..."

Rock, who is doing a media tour on behalf of his new film Top Five, praised Obama's performance in office. Asked about the disappointment some supporters have felt toward the president, Rock made analogies using famous basketball players.

"Everybody wanted Michael Jordan, right?" Rock said. "We got Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal). That's not a disappointment. You know what I mean? We got Charles Barkley. It's still a Hall of Fame career."

He added: "The president should be graded on jobs and peace, and the other stuff is debatable."

Rock, who said he has met Obama a few times, also had a rather novel suggestion for what the president should have done differently.

When Obama entered office in 2009, Rock said, he should have let the then-struggling economy collapse -- "flatline" -- and then basically rebuild it from scratch. Again reaching for a sports analogy, Obama said a new general manager of a struggling team doesn't "try to save old management's mistakes."

Said Rock:

"You know, we've all been on planes that had tremendous turbulence, but we forget all about it. Now, if you live through a plane crash, you'll never forget that. Maybe Obama should have let the plane crash. You get credit for bringing somebody back from the dead. You don't really get credit for helping a sick person by administering antibiotics."