Obama on Vegas: 'I love this town'

President Barack Obama did his best to make nice with Las Vegas on Friday after a perceived snub of the city in 2009.

"Let me just say how nice it is to get out of Washington and come back to Las Vegas," Obama said while campaigning for Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in the city.

"I love this town. Maybe not as much as my staff. For some reason, every time we come here, Air Force One is always a little more crowded. I have no idea why," he joked.

Obama angered Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman in 2009 by holding up the city as an example of excess.

"You can't get corporate jets, you can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime," Obama warned executives of companies that received bailout funds.

Goodman demanded an apology, claiming Obama was tarnishing his city.

The president never apologized, and while Goodman says he doesn't "hold any grudges," he declined to meet with the president while he was in town, citing a scheduling conflict.

"I checked my schedule; it was full," Goodman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I'm meeting with Wayne Newton at 5 — that has been set up for over a week."