Hearing what President Obama said to the press corps for his very last time on Wednesday has us scratching our heads.

“You’re not supposed to be sycophants; you’re supposed to be skeptics. You’re supposed to ask me tough questions. You’re not supposed to be complimentary, but you’re supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power,” Obama said in regards to the relationship between press and president.

Question: where was this attitude for the last eight years? Mr. President, the press treated you like you could do no wrong. They never acted at all like you suddenly require. They were sycophants from the start who rarely cast a critical eye and delivered the softest of softball questions, save only a few. Perhaps this is another veiled warning to the press on how they should act with the next president.

Obama also said he enjoyed working with the media during his presidency and even though he didn’t always agree with every story, he praised them for holding him accountable. If there were a laugh track, that would’ve been a good moment to press play.

Pulling from his final address to the nation, the president spoke more about the importance of a free press in our democracy:

“Essential to that is a free press. That is part of how this place, this country, this grand experiment in self-government has to work. It doesn’t work if we don’t have a well-informed citizenry and you are the conduit through which they receive the information about what’s taking place in the halls of power. So, America needs you, and our democracy needs you.”

Obama implored the journalists to continue “establish[ing] a baseline of facts” to stir “reasoned and informed debates.” That’s how progress moves forward, he added.

“My hope is that you will continue with the same tenacity that you showed us to do the hard work of getting to the bottom of stories and getting them right and to push those of us in power to be the best version of ourselves and to push this country to be the best version of itself," Obama said.

This is all very funny coming from the administration that admitted to being "ventriloquists who shape[d] the news."

The president promised to be an “active consumer” of their work after the White House and looks forward to no longer being the subject of their pens. 

Oh, but to be sure, there is coming a tidal wave of endless comparisons by the “skeptical” press telling us all how much better President Obama was than President Trump. Because unlike the last eight years, the press will certainly not be sycophants this time around.