The 2011 Obama Roast That Made Trump Decide To Run?

When Elon Musk sat down with Joe Rogan for their latest interview, Elon talked a lot about the 2011 White House Correspondent’s Dinner roast of President Trump by Barack Obama.

Elon said it was so out of line and so over the top and watching Trump’s reaction Elon believes this truly may have been the moment that motivated Donald Trump right then and there to run for President.

So of course I had to go find the video and watch it….and share it with you.

Here is a 2:20 clip of some of the key parts:

No WHCA Dinner this year.

Instead: #THISDATE in WHCA Dinner History.

Today’s installment: April 30, 2011.

Barack Obama: “Donald Trump is here tonight.” pic.twitter.com/pobeJywpNH

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) April 30, 2021

Just look at Donald Trump in that crowd….he is NOT laughing.

Here’s a longer clip:

And here’s the full Obama speech/set/roast:

Is this the moment where Donald Trump decided to run for President?

To erase everything Barack Obama ever did?

I think so.

Elon thinks so.

And Inside Edition thinks so:

The Independent had more details on the roast and Donald Trump’s reaction to it:

“You know who was nasty to me? Michelle Obama,” Donald Trump told rally-goers in Georgia on October 28, to a chorus of boos and jeers. “She opened up a little bit of a box… That was a big mistake she made,” he added, ominously.

The former president went on to claim that he had “always tried to be so nice and respectful,” towards the former First Lady, despite having spent years accusing her husband of secretly being born in Kenya and therefore ineligible to be a US president.

Trump had indeed once spoken highly of Barack Obama during the early stages of his presidency in 2008, calling him a “very capable guy and a great speaker.” He later said that the 44th president was doing a “great job” despite having inherited “a mess.”

Donald Trump has claimed he has ‘always tried to be nice and respectful’ to the Obamas, despite years of trashing the 44th president
Donald Trump has claimed he has ‘always tried to be nice and respectful’ to the Obamas, despite years of trashing the 44th president (Getty Images)
But an escalating beef between the two men began in 2011 when Trump began publicly espousing a birtherism conspiracy and demanding that Obama produce a copy of his birth certificate.

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In private, he described Obama as “a Manchurian candidate” who obtained his Ivy League degrees only through affirmative action, according to the biography of his former “fixer”-turned-critic, Michael Cohen.

According to Cohen’s book Disloyal: A Memoir, Trump’s disdain for Obama reached such a fever pitch that he allegedly hired a “Faux-Bama” to participate in a video in which he “ritualistically belittled the first Black president and then fired him.”

Trump’s persistent “birther” conspiracy claims were firmly debunked after doctors in Honolulu, Hawaii, released a copy of Obama’s birth certificate. However, the then-president could not resist a final – and potentially unwise – retort.

“Donald Trump is here tonight. I know he’s taken some flack lately, but no one is happier to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald,” Obama said, addressing the White House Correspondents dinner in April 2011. “And that’s because he can finally get back to the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon landing?… And where are Biggie and Tupac?”

In footage from the evening, Trump stares straight ahead, a cursory smile across his face, as America’s first Black president roasts him continuously for over two and a half minutes.

“Say what you will about Mr Trump, he would certainly bring some change to the White House,” Obama continued, before cutting to an image of the building, reimagined as a hotel, casino and golf course, with two semi-naked women sitting in a hot tub out front. He also mocked Trump’s “credentials and breadth of experience” from working on his reality TV show The Apprentice, prompting further guffaws from attendees.

It was in that room, on that evening, surrounded by dozens of high-profile people laughing at him, that Trump decided he would run for president, those close to him have said.

After gliding down a golden escalator on June 16 2015, Trump announced his campaign for president, and over the next 16 months he branded Obama “the most ignorant president in our history,” a “disaster,” and even accused him of being the founder of ISIS.

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Asked by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt whether he meant that Obama had created a vacuum that allowed the terrorist group to thrive, Trump clarified. “No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do,” he said.