President Donald Trump was met with awkward silence when he tried to get the Navy to boo former President Barack Obama.
Trump was in Virginia on Oct. 5 to commemorate the U.S. Navy’s 250th anniversary and rambled off script when speaking to a captive audience of cadets and officers at Naval Station Norfolk. While boasting about being the “best physical specimen” of all recent presidents, he took a not-so-subtle jab at Obama, emphasizing Obama’s middle name, Hussein.
Trump frequently used the racist dog whistle during his first run for office, but he seems to be dusting it off lately. The taunt ties back to Trump’s “birther” conspiracy theory that Obama was secretly a Muslim born in Kenya, and therefore ineligible to be commander in chief.
But the Navy didn’t take the bait, and Trump’s pause after asking if anyone remembered Obama was met with silence instead of jeers or laughs.
Perhaps the audience was stunned and confused by Trump’s far-fetched claims. Obama’s name came up during an anecdote about the former White House physician, Ronny Jackson, a MAGA loyalist who is currently a Texas Republican congressman.
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“He was also the doctor for…Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him?” asked Trump. “And he was the doctor for a man named Bush. At a press conference, they asked him, Who’s in the best shape? Who’s the healthiest? Who’s the strongest? Who’s the best physical specimen of the three? He said, ‘That’s easy: President Donald Trump.’ And I said, ‘I love this guy. I love him.’”
Trump made this same claim at a black-tie-event at Mar-a-Lago to celebrate his election victory in November 2024. At the time, Newsweek debunked the claim, confirming that Jackson never publicly stated that Trump was healthier than Obama. The outlet speculated that Trump confused Jackson’s comments with a 2015 statement made by his personal doctor, Harold Bornstein.
In 2018, Trump nominated Jackson to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, but had to withdraw the nomination after allegations surfaced that he was handing out prescriptions “like candy,” reportedly earning him the nickname “Candyman.” The disgraced doctor was later stripped of his rank as a rear admiral in the Navy, and he allowed his medical license to expire.
Still, the White House turned to Jackson recently, as rumors over Trump’s health gained momentum in the press. In a statement issued on August 25, the former White House physician wrote, “As President Trump’s former personal physician, former Physician to the President, and White House physician for 14 years across three administrations, I can tell you unequivocally: President Donald J. Trump is the healthiest president this nation has ever seen.”
Just like the birther conspiracy, people just aren’t buying it. “Trump saying he’s in better shape than Obama is like me saying I’m taller than LeBron. You can tell it’s a lie simply by looking at us,” wrote one on Threads.
“Obama and his full-court basketball in his spare time is no match for you and a golf cart driven onto the green,” said another, followed by “Anyone who believes this man is a physical specimen is delusional.”
Many were happy the Navy did not react to the old birth taunt: “As a former sailor, I’m happy the sailors maintained some military bearing by not taking the bait on President Obama.”
