Former first ladies Laura Bush, far left, and Melania Trump, far right, flank former President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump. They appeared to have a cordial conversation Thursday at the State Funeral Service for former President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (Mandel Ngan – AFP / Getty Images)
By Randy DeSoto January 9, 2025 at 2:22pm
Former President Barack Obama revealed Thursday that all the hot campaign rhetoric he directed at Republican Donald Trump last fall regarding him being a supposed would-be dictator, an admirer of Hitler, and the rest was just talk.
Obama and Trump engaged in several minutes of what appeared to be good-natured banter at the funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The 39th president died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins noted the friendly exchange between Obama and Trump, during which both smiled and laughed. “These are just moments that you do not see, hardly ever,” she said.
Jeff Zeleny, the network’s chief national affairs correspondent, agreed.
“It truly is extraordinary,” he said, but he pointed out, “If you look from these presidencies, they are linked from one to another to another.”
🚨NEW: Trump is seen talking with Barack Obama at Jimmy Carter’s state funeral.
“These are just moments that that you don’t see, hardly ever.” pic.twitter.com/SscWr8NCAP
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) January 9, 2025
The Western Lensman’s account on social media platform X posted a side-by-side of Obama’s campaign rhetoric toward Trump back in October at a Kamala Harris rally in Georgia versus the friendly exchange the two had on Thursday.
“General John Kelly, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, said that Trump told him that he wanted his generals to be like Hitler’s generals,” Obama told the Georgia crowd.
“Now I want to explain that in politics a good rule of thumb is don’t say you want to do anything like Hitler,” he added.
It was always a scam
— Kate Austin (@KateAus1976) January 9, 2025
A user responded on X to Obama’s past hot rhetoric toward Trump, “It was always a scam.”
Another wrote, “Wow Obama is laughing with literal Hitler? Almost as if they never believed their own lies.”
Conservative commentator Kyle Becker pointed out, “It really raises a lot of questions about the horrible things the Democratic Party was saying about Trump on the 2024 campaign.”
Obama was actually mirroring a talking point Harris was using during that same time period in late October.
The vice president quoted Kelly — based on reporting from the far-left shill The Atlantic — as saying he believes Trump is someone who falls into the “general definition of fascist.”
Keep in mind, the former president reportedly fired Kelly, or at the very least, the retired general left the White House after the relationship between the two men soured.
Obama posted a longer version of his Georgia rally remarks about Trump, writing on X, “Just because Donald Trump acts goofy doesn’t mean his presidency wouldn’t be dangerous. And you don’t have to take my word for it. Lately, some of the people who know Trump the best have been saying in no uncertain terms that he should not be president again.”
Just because Donald Trump acts goofy doesn’t mean his presidency wouldn’t be dangerous. And you don’t have to take my word for it. Lately, some of the people who know Trump the best have been saying in no uncertain terms that he should not be president again. pic.twitter.com/fIaTKykSf5
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 25, 2024
Obama warned the audience regarding Trump, “Unlike the first time, he won’t have people like John Kelly around to stop him. He’ll be surrounded by people just as loony as he is, and who will let him do what he wants.”
“We do not need four years of a wannabe king, a wannabe dictator running around trying to punish his enemies,” the 44th president argued.
The majority of American voters — and apparently Trump himself — knew Obama was just spouting campaign rhetoric.
Thursday’s cordial exchange proved it so.
Randy DeSoto has written more than 3,000 articles for The Western Journal since he began with the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book “We Hold These Truths” and screenwriter of the political documentary “I Want Your Money.”
Birthplace
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated dean’s list from West Point
Education
United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law
Books Written
We Hold These Truths
Professional Memberships
Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment, Faith
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