Obama says Trump ‘not considered a serious guy’ in New York

Former President Obama slammed former President Trump in a new podcast for not being considered a “serious guy” in New York City — where Trump spent most of his time before the White House, growing his fame and businesses.

Obama was asked on the “SmartLess” podcast by co-host Jason Bateman whether he was surprised how quickly the “protection and passion for democracy was diluted” in recent years. Obama responded by noting the trend began during former President Clinton’s time in the White House before accelerating during his presidency.

“I have been surprised that there haven’t been guardrails inside the Republican Party. Trump didn’t surprise me,” he said, before taking aim at Trump.

“I mean, he comes from New York. There’s nobody in New York who does business with him or lend him money. He’s not considered a serious guy here,” Obama added.

Obama appeared alongside Clinton and President Biden in the newest episode of the “SmartLess” podcast. The trio of presidents recorded the podcast March 28 in New York City.  

Obama went on to explain how he thought more Republicans would say some of Trump’s behavior went too far.

“But, so I was surprised he was elected, but I wasn’t surprised in terms of his behavior. I did expect, and I suspect Bill and Joe, you’d agree with this, that there would be some folks in the Republican Party who would say, no, you can’t go that far. You can’t start praising Putin and saying that his intelligence is better than the US intelligence agencies,” he said.

Trump is currently entangled in a number of legal battles, including two out of New York. He will be spending most of the next few weeks sitting in a Manhattan courtroom for the hush money trial, where he is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Trump has railed against his hometown of New York City in recent years, despite the city being where he first grew his businesses and accumulated fame. He later changed his residency from New York to Florida in 2019.

The Hill has reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment.