Could This Be Why Donald Trump Is So Mad At Barack Obama?
From the time he set foot in the Oval Office, former President Donald Trump appeared determined to undo policies that had been set in place by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and it didn't matter what that policy was: whether it was the multinational nuclear deal involving the U.S. and Iran, the Affordable Care Act, or the Paris climate accord. The Independent says the animosity between both men goes well into the beginning of the Obama presidency, when Trump had decided to amplify the conspiracy theory that Obama was not a natural-born American citizen.
Even former Obama administration officials are at a loss to explain why Trump was so determined to undo Obama's accomplishments in office. As former Obama national security council spokesperson Tommy Vietor put it: "The whole thing that animates and unites his policy views is antipathy towards Obama. It's f***ing pathetic. He's a vindictive person so there is an element of this that is about sticking it to Obama" (via The Guardian).
And while media reports have suggested that Trump is in fact furious with his predecessor, few of us may have given it any serious thought — possibly until now.
Trump was 'beside himself with fury': Christie
In his new book, erstwhile member of Trump's inner circle and New Jersey governor Chris Christie reveals he had a "ringside seat" to the night Obama roasted Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner. Christie writes: "I was right there when it happened. I had a clear view of the faces of the two combatants. I witnessed every brutal knife twist and every painful grimace" (via People).
Christie says Obama had sought to take potshots at Trump's claim that he wasn't an American by "comparing it to the most discredited conspiracy theories and pinning it on its loudest voice. The whole room, 2,600 journalists and Washington power brokers, Republicans and Democrats alike, howled in laughter."
The former New Jersey governor describes Trump in his book as "staring straight ahead. He was rocking back and forth in his chair. He still didn't break a smile" before adding: "I can say this much: I spoke to Donald after the dinner. He was pissed off like I'd never seen him before. Just beside himself with fury."
Trump's reaction to the roast has been dissected before
Trump's fury at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner has been noted before. The New Yorker's Adam Gopnik who was also at the event, described Trump in a 2015 op-ed as a man whose humiliation: "was as absolute, and as visible, as any I have ever seen: his head set in place, like a man in a pillory, he barely moved or altered his expression as wave after wave of laughter struck him ... he sat perfectly still, chin tight, in locked, unmovable rage. If he had not just embarked on so ugly an exercise in pure racism, one might almost have felt sorry for him."
That Trump was furious with Obama likely cannot be disputed, since so many had witnessed his negative reaction to his predecessor's roast. But was that enough for him to seek the presidency? Not according to The Washington Post's feature writer Roxanne Roberts who, in 2016, challenged Gopnik's narrative and pointed out that Trump seemed to be in good spirits after the roast. To those who thought Trump was vindictive enough to run because of that, she said Trump had been wanting to run since the 1980s and repeated something Trump had said after he announced his candidacy. He said: "There are many reasons I'm running, but that's [the Obama roast is] not one of them."