Former President Barack Obama joked on Wednesday that he has “a suite” in President Donald Trump’s head and accused the current president of not being “focused” on the American people.
Obama was asked on the “All the Smoke” podcast with former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson about how the Trump administration is “still very fascinated” with him and how he responds to the “negativity and the racism” thrown his way.
“You got to ask him what it is that…the obsession,” Obama said. “I obviously have a room in his head, a suite in his head.”
“Rent-free!” Barnes exclaimed. “You do everything with grace.”
“But the thing about it is that was always clear to me: look, first of all, when I was president, the last thing I had time to do was worry about what somebody said or what my predecessor did,” Obama said. “They’re gone. I’ve got work to do.”
He continued, “If you’re doing the job right, you’ve got five to 10 things that are real hard and you have to be constantly focused. And the idea that I’d be worrying about somebody who came before and me trying to measure what he’s done today. Look, constantly worrying about that is a strange thing to me. It shows me somebody who’s not focused on the American people and the job they’re supposed to do.”
During another portion of the podcast, Obama also suggested that Trump was different in private conversation compared to his public persona.
“I believe in conversation. So if this â whoever you were talking about â was in front of me, which has happened a couple times, he dont talk like that because he knows better,” Obama said.
In a comment to , White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said, “Barack Hussein Obama will go down as one of the most dishonest, divisive, and destructive Presidents in history.”
Though Trump has been critical of the Obama administration, Obama admitted that he thinks about pushing back in an interview with the New Yorker last month. However, he said that he declines to comment directly since he’s not a “commentator.”
“For me to function like Jon Stewart, even once a week, just going off, just ripping what was happening â which, by the way, Im glad Jons doing it â then Im not a political leader, Im a commentator,” Obama said.
