Obama called Trump a 'corrupt motherf---er,' a 'racist, sexist pig,' and a 'f---ing lunatic,' a new book reportedly says
- Obama turned his congenial nature on its head and slammed Trump behind the scenes, a new book says.
- It reportedly says Obama called Trump a "corrupt motherf---er," a "madman," and a "f---ing lunatic."
- Obama and Trump have long had a testy relationship.
After leaving office in 2017, President Barack Obama, known for his affable nature, largely didn't speak out against his successor, President Donald Trump.
But by the time the 2020 presidential campaign came around, the gloves were off.
With Joe Biden in the throes of a campaign to unseat an incumbent president, Obama made several high-profile campaign appearances for his former vice president where he slammed Trump.
He also voiced plenty of R-rated criticism of Trump behind the scenes, according to "Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Donald Trump," a new book by Edward-Isaac Dovere, a staff writer at The Atlantic. The Guardian on Wednesday reported on excerpts from the book, set to be released next week.
According to The Guardian, the book says that in conversations with donors and political advisors, Obama called Trump a "corrupt motherf---er," a "madman," a "racist, sexist pig," and a "f---ing lunatic."
The reports about Obama's comments on Trump are likely to elicit a strong reaction from Trump.
Trump has long had an antagonistic relationship with Obama, from Trump's promotion of the birther conspiracy theory that sought to question the first Black president's citizenship to his repeated efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, Obama's signature domestic-policy legislation.
While Obama and Trump would likely never play golf together, the details of Obama's contempt toward Trump have not been widely reported.
Dovere reported that Obama was keener on Trump becoming president than GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, mostly because he thought Trump wasn't as clever as the Princeton- and Harvard Law-educated Cruz, according to The Guardian.
As Trump's presidency went on, Obama became less charitable toward his successor.
According to The Guardian, Dovere reported that Obama had told "big donors looking to squeeze a reaction out of him in exchange for the big checks they were writing to his foundation" that Trump was "a madman."
"More often: 'I didn't think it would be this bad.' Sometimes: 'I didn't think we'd have a racist, sexist pig,'" Dovere wrote, according to The Guardian.
The Guardian said Dovere described Obama as highly displeased by reports that Trump had been talking with foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, without aides on the calls.
"That corrupt motherf---er," Obama reportedly said.