(Headline USA) Former President Barack Obama claimed this week that former President Donald Trump is not considered a “serious guy” in New York City, where Trump built his fortune and fame.
Obama made the comment during an interview on the “SmartLess” podcast alongside former President Bill Clinton after co-host Jason Bateman asked the two presidents about Trump’s rise in the GOP.
President Obama on @SmartLess with Presidents Biden and Clinton: You watch Trump's campaign, you watch his career, he's never changed. No one in New York will do business with Trump or lend him money. He is not considered a serious guy. I was surprised he was elected, but I… pic.twitter.com/ywL36hr0YA
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 29, 2024
“I have been surprised that there haven’t been guardrails inside the Republican Party. Trump didn’t surprise me,” Obama replied. “I mean, he comes from New York. There’s nobody in New York who does business with him or lend him money. He’s not considered a serious guy here.”
Obama went on to say that he expected more Republicans to condemn Trump when he arrived on the scene.
“So I was surprised he was elected, but I wasn’t surprised in terms of his behavior. I did expect, and I suspect Bill and Joe, you’d agree with this, that there would be some folks in the Republican Party who would say, no, you can’t go that far. You can’t start praising Putin and saying that his intelligence is better than the U.S. intelligence agencies,” Obama continued.
Regardless of Obama’s opinion, Trump is, in fact, still considered a “serious guy” in New York City — at least, by the blue collar and union workers who broke with Obama in 2016.
HAPPENING NOW: President Trump greeted with chants of “WE LOVE TRUMP” at surprise early morning stop with union workers in New York City pic.twitter.com/Ron0WYihKD
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) April 25, 2024
Video footage from Trump’s visit to Manhattan last week for his hush money trial showed crowds of workers cheering him and chanting “USA!”.
“There’s not a Democrat in there,” Trump said afterwards. “These are people. Look at that building. Look what we can do. We’ve built a lot of great buildings in this city with these people, and they’ve given me great support. They’re really amazing.”
Trump also predicted that he might flip New York in the 2024 election. He said that while there are “some very bad people” in New York, “we have the greatest people, and they’re right behind me.”
