Barack Obama has reportedly joined the backlash against Kanye West over his VMAs outburst by branding the outspoken rapper a “jackass.”

The president is understood to have made the remark during an off-the-record segment of an interview with CNBC yesterday.

The comment was relayed by Nightline host Terry Moran via Twitter.

He wrote: "Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a 'jackass' for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT'S presidential."

Moran's bosses at ABC have since issued a statement apologising to The White House for “prematurely” tweeting comments “that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview”.

Kanye has faced a barrage of criticism for interrupting Swift as she accepted the award for Best Female Video at the ceremony in New York.

The rapper has issued three separate apologies since hijacking Taylor Swift's Best Video acceptance speech at Sunday's awards to announce that Beyonce should have won.

During an appearance on The Jay Leno Show yesterday, a remorseful Kanye revealed how he is struggling to cope with the barrage of criticism from other stars over the incident.

Knowing the President is another critic is sure to be an added blow.

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