Obama Mocks Dancing Trump and Questions His Mental Competence
“You would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this,” Obama told the crowd in Arizona. “You’d call up your cousins and you’d say, ‘Have you noticed?’”

Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
Former president Barack Obama has mocked Donald Trump’s behavior just weeks before the election, including his decision to stop taking questions at a town hall event and dance instead.
Speaking at a rally in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday night for Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, Obama questioned Trump’s mental competence.
“I do have to point out that along with his intentions, there is also a question of his competence,” Obama said. “Have you seen him lately? I mean, he is out there, he’s giving two, two-and-a-half-hour speeches. Just word salads. You have no idea what he’s talking about. He’s talking about Hannibal Lecter. He’s talking about this. He’s talking about that.”
Obama: The point of a town hall meeting is to take questions. He just decided, you know what, I'm going to stop taking questions, and then he's swaying.. Can you imagine if I did that? Our playlist would probably be better. pic.twitter.com/AZ7motwOuR
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 18, 2024
Obama then mocked Trump’s recent town hall in Pennsylvania, a key swing state, where he stopped taking questions and danced for roughly 40 minutes to a playlist that included Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” Rufus Wainwright’s cover of “Hallelujah,” Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain,” and “Memory” from the musical “Cats.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“I’ve done a lot of town hall meetings,” Obama said. “The point of a town hall meeting is to take questions. He just decided, you know what, I’m gonna stop taking questions and then he’s swaying to ‘Ave Maria’ and ‘Y.M.C.A.’ for about half an hour. Folks are standing there, not sure what’s happening. Can you imagine if I did that? Can you imagine if Ruben did that? Right in the middle. Now, our playlist would probably be better.”
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Obama suggested that if the 78-year-old Republican nominee were your own grandfather, you would probably call a family meeting out of concern.
“He called himself ‘the father of IVF,’” he added. “I do not know what that means. You do not either. He said Jan. 6 was ‘a day of love’… You would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this. No, no. I’m not joking. You would, right? You’d call up your cousins and you’d say, ‘Have you noticed?’”
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
