Trump was ‘beside himself with fury’ after Obama roasted him over racist ‘birther’ conspiracy, new book claims

The former Republican president later ruled-out attending the annual event

Gino Spocchia
Thursday 18 November 2021 18:58
Comments

Obama mocks Trump at 2011 White House correspondent’s dinner

Leer en Español

Donald Trump was apparently “beside himself with fury” following the 2011 White House Correspondents’ dinner and Barack Obama’s roasting of him.

Mr Obama infamously berated Mr Trump for furthering the racist “birther” conspiracy which claimed the president was not a US citizen and therefore could not be US president.

Chris Christie, who was attending the dinner along with Mr Trump, describes in his new book how Mr Trump was “beside himself with fury” after the dinner.

“I spoke to Donald after the dinner,” Mr Christie alleged in Republican Rescue. “He was p***** off like I’d never seen him before. Just beside himself with fury.”

Mr Obama “never turned his eyes away from the man who’d been questioning his right to be president. He showed no mercy on Donald Trump,” Mr Christie wrote in his book, as reported by The New York Times.

The former Republican governor of New Jersey, who backed Mr Trump in 2016 and 2020, went on to allege that his conspiracy theorising “paved the way for wave after wave of other conspiracies to come”, including the Big Lie about his election loss.

Mr Christie, who incorrectly predicted that Mr Trump would accept defeat and the transition of power, described the conspiracy theories currently circulating in the US as “wild fantasies, far-fetched assertions, bizarre allegations, and outright lies”.

He added, “It showed that personal falsehoods, even when plainly disproven, can still do political damage. Lies, even discredited lies, never really go away.”

Mr Obama, who had released his birth certificate days before the 2011 dinner, told the audience at Washington DC’s Hilton Hotel that “no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald”.

“And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?”

Seth Meyers, a former star of Saturday Night Live, also roasted Mr Trump for  his “fox”-like mane of hair, alleged support of conspiracy theories and his reality TV show The Apprentice.

Mr Trump toldThe Washington Post afterwards that he had “a phenomenal time”, and even a “good evening” at the annual event, which he refused to attend in 2017 during his first year in office, and later banned his administration officials from going.

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

Please enter a valid email
Please enter a valid email
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Please enter your first name
Special characters aren’t allowed
Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters
Please enter your last name
Special characters aren’t allowed
Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters
You must be over 18 years old to register
You must be over 18 years old to register
Opt-out-policy
You can opt-out at any time by signing in to your account to manage your preferences. Each email has a link to unsubscribe.

By clicking ‘Create my account’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Join our new commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in