In the near decade that he’s no longer occupied the White House, former President Barack Obama has been a near daily topic for his successor to the role of President of the United States: Donald Trump.
Whether it be blaming him for the recent issues with the Reflecting Pool, the Iran crisis and a litany of other items over the past number of years, Trump has routinely brought his attention back to the 44th president, with acts that have on more than one occasion, caused a bit of discord inside the Obama household.
During a sit-down interview with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson for the duo’s “All The Smoke” podcast, Obama spoke on a number of topics, including how the game of basketball related to his presidency. He also effused praise for New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and how he led the Knicks to an elusive NBA title. However, when Barnes asked Obama about Trump, the trio immediately agreed on one thing: there might be an “fascination” from Trump as it relates to his predecessor.
“You gotta ask him, the obsession,” Obama said around the 28-minute mark of the conversation. “I obviously have a room in his head. A suite in his head.”
At the basketball center inside the Obama Presidential Center, Barnes and Jackson remarked that Obama has handled all of the things thrown his way, including racist tropes, with grace. Even when posited the question of possibly “cussing” Trump out one day, Obama relented, referencing the fact that there shouldn’t be any free time to think about people when you hold the title of Leader of the Free World.
“When I was president, the last thing I had to think about was what somebody said or what my predecesor did,” Obama added. If you’re doing the job right,” Obama said. “Every day you’ve got five, ten things that are real hard. And you have to be constantly focused. The idea that I’d be worried about somebody who came before and measure, ‘What he’s done today?’ Constantly worrying about that is a strange thing to me. It shows me somebody that’s not focused on the American people and the job they’re supposed to do.”
The 44th president revealed to Barnes and Jackson that he never watched cable news while he was president and typically had aides on his staff relay information to him and monitor what people were saying, namely in moments when the general public was upset about something.
When it comes to conflict resolution, Obama told the “All The Smoke” crew that he’s a fan of direct conversation.
“So, if this … whoever you were talking about was in front of me, which has happened a couple of times, he don’t talk like that,” Obama said. “Because he knows better. There’s that filter of the phone that creates … people just say kind of crazy stuff that they would never say with no consequences to your face.”
