Over the course of Rick And Morty, Rick Sanchez makes a lot more enemies than he does friends. Thanks to his general demeanor and ability to tackle any challenge with ease, it makes perfect sense that most people who come across Rick simply wouldn’t like him. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any friends, but as Rick And Morty shows, friends aren’t easy to come by for Rick.

One character who is sometimes friendly and sometimes antagonistic to both Rick and Morty is the President of the United States. Now known as Andre Curtis, the president has an alarming level of power, even seeking to challenge Rick from time to time. With many appearances across the series, some may have missed exactly why Rick and the President are rivals.

Related

Rick and Morty: The Two Crows, Explained

Rick's sidekick has always been Morty, except for in two episodes in season 5, when he was accompanied by his bird friends.

Who Is The President In Rick And Morty?

The President is a funny recurring character from Rick And Morty who is a sometimes-friend, sometimes-foe of Rick Sanchez. He seems to be intended to be a kind of satirical mix of former presidents Barrack Obama and Donald Trump. While mostly known as the President by the fanbase, the character has since been given the full name of Andre Curtis, though most are still happy to refer to him as the President. The character is voiced by Keith David in a role that most people probably expected to be a one-off gag. Instead, the President has become one of the most beloved returning characters in Rick And Morty.

The President manages to be both goofy and ready to take charge of any situation, something made clear in each of his appearances, but perhaps best exemplified in his first major appearance in Season 2, Episode 5, “Get Schwifty”:

For whatever reason (although his first outing with a force of invading giant head aliens does make a case), the President seems acutely aware of the more bizarre, supernatural, and extra-terrestrial aspects of the universe. It’s this exact thing that often results in the President and Rick crossing paths. Whenever something threatens the safety of America, even if it’s just Rick And Morty that has put the country at risk, the President isn’t too far from Rick. Whether it’s due to the funds he’s in control of as leader of the United States or due to some other factor, the President becomes capable of standing against Rick in combat, something that not many beings are capable of doing.

Why Are Rick And The President Enemies?

Despite the series looking onward to Season 8 at this point, the President has been a supporting character in the series since the second season. He appears in passing earlier on, but his first key appearance was in Season 2, Episode 5, “Get Schwifty,” where he believes in Rick And Morty and their ability to make jams to handle an invasion from Cromulons. At the close of this episode, the President is friendly with Rick And Morty, but that changed in a hurry in the following season. Their relationship is strained and in Season 3, Episode 10, “The Rickchurian Mortydate”, the President even points out just how fast and loose Rick and Morty are with their portal gun (and the rules) across their various adventures:

It is during this episode that first sees the President taking on more of an adversarial role in Rick And Morty. The President acts like a petulant child when Rick and Morty declare their disinterest in helping him, thanks to that, the President becomes set on arresting Rick and Morty, all while Rick tries to get a selfie for Morty. This leads to a massive battle between the two, and somehow, the President is capable of surviving a fight with Rick. Despite a truce, the relationship between Rick and the President would remain tentative at best. Essentially, Rick and the President are enemies purely because of each man’s ego, and the fact that Rick is a rogue actor that the President has no ability to control.

The President would once again be at odds with Rick in Season 5 on two separate occasions, once in “Rickdependence Spray” and again in "Rick & Morty's Thanksploitation Spectacular.” In the first instance, the President forces Rick and Morty to deal with a series of nasty monsters, and in the other, the President has finally grown tired of Rick’s antics and intends to defeat his rival in a ridiculous Thanksgiving-themed plot. It’s in "Rick & Morty's Thanksploitation Spectacular” that the two rivals would become closer to being friendly with one another, all stemming from a desire for a pardon as stated by Rick:

After stopping a takeover from a turkey president, the President officially pardons Rick and Morty. For the first time since Season 2, Rick and the President are at least close to being friends.

In the Season 6 finale "Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation", Morty actually becomes more of an enemy of the President, with Rick putting in the effort to put things right after a tale of revenge involving a lightsaber being dropped perfectly vertically down the planet. The President would return once more in Season 7, Episode 3, “Air Force Wong” in which he ends up dating Rick’s therapist. Instead of returning to their rivalry, the two end up working together to stop an old flame of Rick’s, Unity. The President does end up causing a crisis in his own right, but rather than Rick taking him down once and for all, the two end up having beers together in the oval office.

Rick And Morty is available to watch on Hulu.

Rick and Morty

Rick and Morty is an animated sci-fi comedy that follows the outrageous interplanetary and multidimensional adventures of Rick Sanchez and his grandson, Morty. Airing on Adult Swim, Rick and Morty has become one of the most popular animated shows on television, blending humor, action, and genuine emotion.

More

Rick and Morty: What Was Wrong With the Cob Planet?

Homeless and on the run from the galactic federation, Rick and Morty encounter a cob planet that freaks Rick out.